What Can I do Right Now??
The only thing I can do right now in Ohio is stay out of the garden to keep from compacting the soil, and watch it rain.....
General requirements:
Hostas are a shade loving plant. All of these will grow at their absolute best in high dappled shade with rich, deep, moist ground. Luckily for the rest of us, they will also grow under the dense, dry shade of big old maples, on the edges of driveways in the morning sun, flanking the yew hedge and even holding their own near a dry foundation. They must be watered faithfully until they are well established, and they will grow faster with the occasional application of fertilizer. After that, sit back and enjoy this most beautiful, hardy and low maintenance perennial.
I’ve seen claims the hostas grow in zones 2-8. That may be true, but I would say that they grow reliably in zones 3 through 7, and if you are south or west of that, you should start with Fried Green Tomatoes, Baby Bunting, and Invincible and make sure they have plenty of shade. If you are north of those areas, whether or not your hostas survive the winter is probably dependent on the depth and reliability of your snow cover. There are hostas on the family farm that are almost 50 years old, and they have survived temperatures here of 30 degrees below zero and summer days of over 100 above. Good luck, and don’t forget we do have a money back guarantee (please see the policy page for details).
Planting Hostas: Doing it well or just well enough?
Doing it well: When the nights are cool and the days are warm (April - early June and mid-August - October in Ohio), till a bed 8-10 inches deep, add 1 inch each of pea gravel, rotted manure, and organic material, then till again coarsely. Dig an overlarge hole and spread roots over a crown of soil so that the top of the white stem area is even with the ground. Backfill without tamping, water deeply, mulch sparingly with coarse material, water frequently, and keep the area clean of weeds. Plant anything like this, keep it well watered and watch it explode.
Almost as Well: Dig a hole the expected size of the mature plant, putting the dirt into a wheelbarrow. Mix it with equal parts compost and moistened peat moss. Backfill your hole with the mixture of 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 soil. Plant the new hosta into this mixture, mulch sparingly, weed often enough to prevent seeding and water frequently.
Just Well Enough: If the ground isn’t frozen or baked, then plant deep, water frequently, weed when you have time.
Most of us don’t have a lot of time, muscle and money just lying about waiting to be put into a garden. And that’s fine because hostas aren’t fussy. When my children were small and gardening was by gosh and by golly, many times I bought hostas and just stuck them in the ground, even under a large tree, with no soil amendments, no mulch and no tilling except the hole I put it in. I made sure it was planted deep enough to cover the soil it’s potted in so I didn’t have to worry about heaving and dehydration. I kept them well watered, weeded out anything big enough to peek over the leaves, and I only lost one hosta doing that (which I planted in a known dog path, what was I thinking?). These “just well enough” hostas grow slower, since they’re fighting for root space and nutrients instead of being spoon fed, but they still grow, and they’re still beautiful. I happen to believe that these hostas are stronger and longer-lived, they seem to be at any rate.
I do love my babies though. In the early spring or late fall, when the plant is dormant, I try to remember to put some old manure around each plant (not on it). I try to plant at the drip line of overhanging trees, though I have lots of hostas below the canopy and doing fine. I water religiously the first growing season. I try not to let the weeds get higher than the plants. I don’t stress over small holes from slugs, and I don’t plant, keep or sell the hostas that the slugs have proven to eat like candy. I have cats, so voles are not a problem. In fact, the occasional litter of kittens is my biggest threat, as they think a large hosta is planted directly for their benefit, a flower bed jungle in which to play lions and tigers and bears, oh my! But hostas can take a lot of abuse that would shrivel a lesser plant. My fifty-year-old plants were occasionally mulched with gravel from an overenthusiastic snowplow, but each spring and summer they were a fountain of green and lavender just the same.
Hostas offer unlimited rewards for very minor care. Please visit our design page for exciting ideas.
HOME | HOSTA GALLERY | HOSTA CARE | DESIGN IDEAS
ORDERS | POLICIES & PROCEDURES | CONTACT | STORE
Cider House Hostas is owned and operated by:
Loretta Pierfelice, 8489 Wesleyan Church Road, Pataskala, Ohio 43062, 614-496-3501
For email please replace the 'at' with @ in my email address: loretta'at'ciderhousehostas.com
Member of The Ohio Farm Bureau and of The Central Ohio Hosta Society
Last updated 4/8/2006.