gemini_sage said:

Liz, I feel your pain- lots of space here, but my ability to keep up the gardens diminishes with the passing of time. I think you're on the right track with beds of only peonies- that certainly does make for easier maintenance. I love my mixed beds, but they do make it more challenging to keep up.

I've been considering a nursery bed for new peonies and another for irises. Both would benefit from having space to themselves, at least till they mature.

I don't know how relevant this is to all of you who are blessed with and also suffer from having lots of land for gardening, but I thought I'd put it out there.

Jewish people have something called a Shmita (pronounced Shmee-tah.) That's where you're supposed to let the land rest for a period of one year every seven years. Over here (in the US), the closest thing we have is crop rotation. One way it's sometimes handled so as to not create a food shortage is to divide the land into 7 portions, and let one completely rest each year. It's a great way to allow your land to revitalize, and a great way to perhaps make things a bit easier for those of you with large amounts of land to garden. You literally let the land (or each portion of) lie fallow for the full year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Just a thought....

The crop rotation has more benefits than natural rejuvenation of the soil. It also helps to prevent many plant diseases. Here in Illinois, farmers plant corn in the early Summer for harvest about October. Then they plant winter wheat which is combined usually in June of the next year. Then they plant soybeans which, hopefully, will mature before killing frosts. Three crops in two years but none are consecutive. Same thing is said about peonies and iris--do not replant in the same place.

I don't grow anything other than perennials, even gave up on tomatoes for the most part because of the short growing season and hail. Perennial beds are it for me!
I've always planted a piece of divided peony back in the same spot, have added compost to the hole but re-used most of the original soil with no negative results. I've wondered why it'd be a bad idea to replant a piece in a spot that it's done well enough to warrant division....I can see not replanting in a spot where a plant has struggled or where it was diseased.
Is the advice for not replanting iris because or borers or another disease? I have a bunch that need to be divided, waited too long this fall so it'll have to be next summer.

I didn't grow any food crops this year, so that plot has gotten its rest time time and should be in good shape next spring. I've never really considered rotation for peonies, they seem more permanent to me, like trees and shrubs. However, my oldest peonies have been in the ground 9 years, and may not have reached the point of needing division or relocation.

I just finished planting my Hollingsworth order. The roots all looked great!

gemini_sage said:I didn't grow any food crops this year, so that plot has gotten its rest time time and should be in good shape next spring. I've never really considered rotation for peonies, they seem more permanent to me, like trees and shrubs. However, my oldest peonies have been in the ground 9 years, and may not have reached the point of needing division or relocation.

I just finished planting my Hollingsworth order. The roots all looked great!

I don't think you can rotate crops with anything but annuals. The shmita thing isn't about rotating, it's about not cutting, taking or clearing any fruit or flowers (i.e., just let them fall to the ground), and not weeding or doing anything to the area at all for the full year. I know the idea of not weeding around peonies doesn't sound great as they don't like competition in their root area. It's only done once every 7 years.

I was thinking it would only be applicable to annual crops. And turns out I did just let the vegetable plot go wild this year, there's stuff growing in there much taller than I am. I'll have to use some sort of weed fabric next year, it will be so full of weed seeds that will be a must.