How to kill or abuse your hostas

Hostas are durable, rugged plants, but they still need proper placement and care. Here are some ways people kill their hostas (hint – do the opposite of these!) Note that we get very, very few complaints about our hostas, thanks to you following the planting instructions we enclose with your order. I want you to enjoy your hostas for years to come!

1. Spray weeds nearby with herbicide. Recently, I went to a customer’s home that had purchased hostas from us a couple of years ago. Almost all of them were doing great! A couple hostas had died while those fairly close to the dead hostas had not. Here’s why:
   A grass fertilizer and weed treatment company was treating her grass. It was likely that some of the spray/mist got on her hostas and killed them. Sometimes these companies will spray on windier days or get a little careless. I would be there when they spray your grass or just do it yourself. Spray on calm days and block your hostas from the spray and mist with a cardboard or plastic cover. Make sure your pets are inside.
2. Use too heavy or dense of a landscape fabric. For the above customer I was also concerned that the landscape fabric her installers put in her gardens might not have been porous enough. It is possible that those very small holes could clog with dirt, minerals, etc. and prevent the moisture from getting down to the roots.
3. Drown them. If you make a clay “bowl” in the ground and water too much, your hostas will drown and rot. Make a big hole in the clay to allow for drainage– at least 1 foot deep and be careful how much you water! Clay is not very porous.
4. Over-fertilize. Some people put too much fertilizer in the hole when planting or too much of the wrong type during the season. If you don’t stop fertilizing before July 30 your hosta might not come up next spring.
5. Water with the wrong technique. Some large hostas in particular create "umbrellas" for the water to run off the leaves. This means that rain and sprinklers are not getting water into the roots like you might think. Use a wand attachment on your hose periodically and water close to the roots to make sure your hostas are getting the moisture they need.
6. Don’t cover your first-year hostas. If there is a lack of snow cover, the winds will suck the moisture out of the ground and the ground temperature will vary more. Warmer days in February or March could make the hostas come up, only to be damaged or killed by snow or a cold spell. In Minnesota, we keep ours covered until the third week of April, depending upon the spring, with about 6" of straw, leaves or leaves in a bag. Your cover needs to be strong enough to not blow away. At the same time, last year we planted 1,800 Starter TC the second week of November! Over 90% came back strong. The ones we lost were often related to H. plantagenia, such as H. Aphrodite which evolved the farthest south of the hosta and thus had trouble with the Minnesota cold. These hostas had no time to get established and they had very little leaf cover. Hostas are tough; but I want you to maximize your chance of success.
7. Let your dogs dig up your hostas. I love dogs and cats, but this does happen.
8. Plant under maple trees or trees with lots of surface roots. One possible problem is too much shade. More importantly, your hostas are going to be competing with the tree roots for moisture and nutrients. The tree has often used up the soil’s nutrients before you plant, making the soil poor. Consider planting your hosta in a container, removing the bottom of the container or adding a drainage hole to the bottom, digging your hole to fit the container, and burying it. If there are holes in the side of the container, give the container a turn twice a year to break any roots trying to get in the container.
9. Plant in very deep shade. Hostas do need some sun. The hostas that grow best in shade have lots of chlorophyll in them, like solid greens and blues.
10. Do not let them gradually adjust to sun. Our Starter TC and Advanced Starter hostas are grown in 75% and 65% shade cloth. They need to gradually adjust to more sun if you put them out in a lot of sun. You can keep them in our pots if you water them, and gradually give them an hour more sun every couple of days.
11. Buy diseased plants from amateurs. Our Starter TC and Advanced Starter have never been planted in the soil. The plant labs we purchase from test for Hosta Virus X and foliar nematodes before they go into production. I only purchase lab-grown and tested hostas for our Mature Divisions.
12. Black soaker hoses can clog. If you have well water it might be full of minerals that can clog your hose and limit the water your hostas are receiving. City water has fewer minerals. Check out this innovative product for a different type of soaker hose: www.irrigro.com
13. Plant next to concrete walls. Often times these walls can leach out an alkaline water which makes the soil basic and well over 7.0 on the pH scale – 7.9 being neutral. Hostas prefer an acidic soil of a pH from 5.8 to 6.8.
14. Don't wait for your hose water to cool down. It is very easy for the water in your hose to rise to near-scalding temperatures as it sits on your lawn. This hot water can burn the leaves of your hostas, deform the enzymes, and kill your plant.  Wait for the hot water to be flushed through before starting to water!

I hope you can see why I can’t guarantee our hostas for more than 7 days after they leave us healthy. I have no control over the weather in all 50 states, where you plant, how you fertilize, water, and over-winter them, and if you follow our planting instructions. I hope you understand. I can assure you that you will get great plants from us, and they will continue to thrive if well-cared for. If by chance you are not happy with your plant(s), keep it alive, let us know, and we will take care of you!

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