Throw it on the driveway.....

in a pot until you are ready to use it elsewhere. Give it a little extra care and feeding if you want to keep it and replant it in the fall. It is a FW and we all know what they do. It wouldn't kill me if mine was gone.

that I do when I dig things up to divide is to wash all the soil off with a hose to get all of the dead stuff out. I mainly do it to get the maple roots out but doing this will let you get the remaining plants grouped closer together for potting up. Hosing the dirt out instead of trying to break it off will result in less root damage. I also take a few of the oldest leaves off the bottom of the plant to compensate for loss of roots from digging it up.

Ken, I hope I am understanding your question. I have rescued some very distressed hosta by lifting them, washing the soil from the roots carefully, dividing if possible, and potting them in a humusy blend of roughly garden soil, composted garden waste, and an inorganic aereator/water retainer like vermiculite or perlite at a 1:1:1 ratio and overwintered them. I evaluate them the next spring and either replant them or repot them in bigger pots for another year. The idea is to eliminate competition for water and nutrients. As an example I have rescued a H. 'Allen P. McConnell' from my daughters garden that was down to one eye with two tiny thready roots. It looked like a goner. The next spring it had 7 eyes so I replanted it and the following spring the plant was beautifully healthy and growing.

I am LOLing at you Ken! You are the king of "toss it in the driveway"..... and you are asking for alternatives?

Alexa

It must be raining in Michigan. Ken's posting pop quizzes.

Assuming their permanent home is not yet ready:
1. Dig em up now and pot them in a mix that drains well
2. Put them in light full day shade (It is FW after all)
2. Water them daily
3. Fert with Osmocote 14/14/14 now
4. Every two weeks Fert with liquid Miracle Grow.
5. Plant after Labor Day.

How'd I do?

Steve

I have rescued hostas in decline from too much shade and too many tree roots. I maintain a hospital ward near the house so I remember to water them regularly. I pot the weakened hostas in a light mix and fertilize with dilute Miracle Grow. They also get quite a bit of sun to encourage more rapid growth. For several hostas I have returned to the shady tree root clogged bed after two years of treatment I have tried sinking three gallon pots into the bed. After one cold winter with lots of snow cover the trial seems to be working well. My concern is about how potted hostas might fare in drier winters with more temperature variation. Normally my hostas in pots are buried on their sides.

Mark

I have divided fully leafed out hosta for my brother and his grew without issue. Also moved some leafed out hosta because I bought yet another conifer and needed the spot. All in late May. No masking tape, no ferts and no problems. Maybe a little extra water. The way this spring has gone its as if its still late April.

You may want to add the step "Throw it on the driveway" if you choose.

tj

wow, you all baby yours so much. I would dig it up and replant it somewhere else. that's about it. lol

I don't know what method you should use for extraction... jaws of life, perhaps?

I can tell you that when mine requires the ICU, I usually dig it up, remove invading weeds. I'll remove soil if it seems clay-ey, otherwise, I try not to mess with roots. My ICU is reserved for hostas who were struggling in the big garden, were only 1 pathetic eye at purchase and for the few remaining mini/dwarfs I have. There are probably 50 plants in there, but a few of them will graduate to the big garden this year!

Really? A cherry tree? lol. I have a cherry tree and it wouldn't stand a chance against a large hosta in a throw down. I would dig it up, take a good look at the roots and try to figure out what the real problem is.

Beverly

hey bev ...

60 to 80 feet tall ... the furniture cherry .... not the eatin cherry ...

check out the link ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Maybe you should take up cabinet making?

Alexa

Alexa-

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! Good one!

-Babka

All right Ken - I was thinking of the other kind of cherry tree. I don't think we have that other kind up here. I just have the maple problem to deal with. Thanks for the horticulture lesson.

Beverly

Just do it now. I waited too long to recue my magnificant Dream Weaver from tree root damage. I moved it in a pot with potting soil and fertilizer and was very attentive all last season. My reward this spring? Two leaves the size of the my thumbs. Next step? Found a new fairly large DW in a garden center and plan to grow that in a large pot that can withstand winter weather....

I would dig it up and send it to my husband's nursery conveniently located behind the shed. Just like treemom, he hates to throw even a very sick hosta away.

I would dig it up, and decide that if the roots are the problem, re-bury it in a spin out pot.

chris

This is a good thread!
I just moved a nearly leafed out Whirlwind into a more shadier spot to prevent some of the later greening. No problem, kept on unfurling. I have that multi-eye Earth Angel which stopped unfurling 10 days ago, actually one leaf curled backwards. As Beverly wrote, just dig it up and see what's the problem, that I will do, will also improve that spot.
Bernd