Oops, the wrong picture posted. My new Sum and Substance is not in this picture, but it is in the place where the little concrete planter stands in the photo above.

Anita

That is a tough problem with the land sloping away from viewing points, Anita. But I don't have to tell you that.

You have two options. One is to over-exagerate hosta placementby size with only micro-minis in the front row and graduating larger and larger toward the rear. This presents a real challange.

I would build raised beds towards the rear. Using something like old railroad ties as an example, the rearmost raised bed could be 3 ties deep and planted with S&S, Sagae, Princess Wu, etc. Immediately in front a second raised bed could be built using only one railroad tie deep, planted with hostas like in the plantaginea familyie/ Guacamole, Fragrant Bouquet, Fried Green Tomatoes. Finally, in the immediate front you could use size gradiented hosta planting with smallest in front and medium to the rear.

You could disguise the hard lines of the wood used to raise the beds with a few rocks or other disruptions.

Good Luck.

Les

Oops! I think Les has it backwards: I think your beds slope up, so the farthest back is the highest. Right?

If I'm right, forget about raised beds. I'm lousy with cameras, so I'll just write.

Don't place tall, vase shaped hosta next to the fence: you'll see nothing but stalks. I moved my Regal Splendour so you look down on it rather than on the level or up. You may be able to use the large, vase shaped hosta at the spots where your bed is only 2 ft wide -- except it'll be too big really soon!

Place similarly sized hosta in rows up to the fence, e.g. a row of smalls, flanked on either side by rows of mediums, then rows of large. You'll have undulations across the bed, rather than from front to back. And when you have rows of smalls, think about hanging some garden art from the fence.

Actually, I'd say you're doing pretty well right now. Nance

You have a great area to work with. It's already very pretty. But I would offer that the big expanse of (very nice) fence needs to be considered. The fence is mostly what I see when I look at your photo.

12 feet deep is plenty deep enough to add some shrubs which would silhouette nicely against the natural color of the fence, and would themselves provide a foil for the hosta. Two of my favorites to use like this are species hydrangea and itea, as I think blue hosta look good contrasting with the spring green of the itea.

My yard is flat as a pancake, so I can't help you with any pictures of slopes, but here is a pic showing 2 itea shrubs with Thunder Bolt and Frances Williams in front of a fence similar to yours. The species hydrangea has the same mounding shape and growth rate, same lightish colored leaves and cream flowers. I have it in another section of this same bed.

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Christine

I forgot to mention: put red petioled hosta high up on the hill so people can enjoy the red. Also, I agree with the idea of shrubs and/or climbing vines to camoflage the fence.

Yawn: good morning. Looking at it after some sleep I believe I was wrong, (but the advice WOULD have been good had I been right). Thanks Nance for catching that.

You know you caught my eye with the term "deep, sloped beds". I grew hostas in northern Arkansas (Mtn. Home to be precise, which says a lot). I grew hosta where my legs didn't want to push a mower or risk a roll-down with my rider. Your 5-12" wouldn't have been noticed. If you want to see hostas on a deep slope, visit the Blue Spring Heritage Center gardens in NW Arkansas, on bluffs overlooking the White River below the dam north of Fayetteville AR. It is listed with a Eureka Springs PO, and both are worth a visit if visiting Branson MO. (You can still get a geothermal mud bath in Eureka Springs if you like).

I don't have pics of my terraced beds in AR, so I have to draw pictures with words. In your case just use the hostas size ratings as a guide to gradient planting, lower in front and taller in back, with an occasional hidden pedestal for a potted plant for emphasis. Just be forewarned that the height given in sales blurbs can be confusing. Sometimes they include the scapes the blossoms are borne on. I have a hosta that tops out 15 inches with respect to folliage, but flowers are on 48-54 inch scapes. Some would describe this plant as growing to 54" tall and others as 15". If you question one, post here and I am sure you will get an answer. If you have it, someone here have experience with it. I happen to enjoy hosta's flowers, but the foliage is what I grow them for.

Les

My sloped bed.

Jon

I have a similar sloped bed at the back of our lot, but it is in full sun, so I don't have a lot of hostas in that location. My main problem with the slope is that when we have very heavy rains, the rain washes the mulch down the slope so it all ends up at the bottom. When the mulch is gone, the rain also erodes gullies in the soil. This seems to happen a couple times a year.

Of course, there is also the neighbor's above ground pool at the top of the slope. Occasionally when it rains hard, their pool collapses and all (and I mean all) of the water in the pool gushes down over the garden, pushing mulch over plants, literally burying them in mulch.

Not much to do about it except rake the mulch back up the hill.

My yard is the same- the bottom of our back fence is at eye level if you're on the deck. I think it's pretty ideal, visually, because you can see the individual hosta well. It's like seating in a movie theater, only in reverse.

I think your garden looks very nice- I like that you added a few vertical things like the trellis and the potted plant to break that horizontal line that you get where the bottom of the fence meets the tops of the hosta.

Here are some shots of my main hosta bed

upper right hand tier of it- I need to get a large upright gold to go behind and between Regal Splendor. The one I have there, 'Mr Watson' is too short and gets lost all the way in the back. I recently stuck a pot back there with Cathedral Windows in it.

This is the middle/lower tier, near the fountain

to the left of the bed is a path, a bank of ferns, and two new tiers I added last year when a huge pine fell down. I am still working on planting the upper tier, but they will be mostly large hosta and nothing else (except a Japanese Maple at the far corner).

pic from last year of the lower new tier...this is probably going to be too crowded quickly. I like my hosta to have some elbow room, personally.

The opposite corner of the yard is also sloped, and I have some smaller beds over there. This is one looking down from the top by the fence- Parhelion, Elegans, and Regal Splendor

Wow, this is great. Thanks for all the contributions!

Les, I live in Kansas and spend alot of time in southern Missouri at Big Cedar Lodge, so I'll definitely swing a bit further south sometime to check out the Heritage Gardens. Maybe we'll combine with a float trip on the White River :)

Annie, I like the looks of the itea. Breaking up that expanse of fence is one of my main goals. I've had some hydrangea back in this area for a couple of years, but they have not done well. I'll look into the itea.

Jon and Coll, I love the pictures of your gardens! So beautiful! Coll, what is the big hosta on the right in your second photo? it is gorgeous even from a distance in that first shot. I really want a few striking ones that read well from a distance back there.

I think considering I had a full perimeter of weeds 3 years ago and I'm working with mostly hand-me-down plain green hostas, it is looking pretty good. Now that I've gotten good and addicted to these things, I can't wait to mix in some of the spectacular foliage I've seen on this forum.

Anita

No matter what you do, it will look better from the top than the bottom. So place a bench at the top.

Oh yes, Esox is right. A BENCH is a must.
And somewhere in there, put a Pawley's Island hammock. Add a few lacy leafed Japanese maple or some conifers, and add a little bit of up lighting. If you have some old wagon wheels, they might look fine on the fence, or even standing around behind a rustic fountain or old hand pump.

You are in Kansas, right? So how about a scene for Dorothy with a few Wiz references? Over by your compost pile would be good. Where do you keep your gardening paraphenalia? In a real garden shed? Make it fanciful as well, if it is anywhere near your hosta garden. I'd think a few of your minis in window boxes by the garden shed would work great.
But here I go, sorry. I made our old garage look like an Irish whitewashed stuccoed cottage. Whatever works for your touchstone, bring it into your garden.

I would show you some pics of my woodland garden,but Photobucket has some problems that won't allow me to upload photos any more. My garden is all built on slopes,and some of my property is so steep that planting anything would be impossible. Phil,on a mountainside in NC.

Here's a link with a few Gold Standards planted on a hillside

Paul

Here is a link that might be useful: Hillside of Gold Standards

It seems Photobucket has fixed the problem,but here is a pic of part of my woodland garden.Phil

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Paul, that is pretty incredible! I know that I have often seen hosta referred to as "groundcover" though I suppose most of us here regard them more as specimens. There is a botanical garden here in Maine that does mass plantings of hosta.

Anita, that is 'Thunderbolt', which is my very favorite hosta. Anniegolden (Christine) also posted a picture with a gorgeous Thunderbolt. Definitely a standout hosta.

This is Thunderbolt from last year- it's still filling out this year with four more eyes so it's gonna be a monster

regarding green hosta- there is nothing wrong with that. You need some plain greens to balance out the varigated ones, IMO. One of my favorite groupings in my garden is three "plain" greens together- 'Manhattan', 'Lily Pad', and 'Rosedale Spoons'....just because it's green, doesnt mean it has to be boring!

I am trying to do more drifts of color, because I think my garden looks kind of busy. So instead of always looking for contrast, I'm trying to group things that have something in commmon. I constanly move stuff around, trying to find what works better.

Paul in MN, that is hilarious! Given that I just came in from slug hunting, I looked at that beautiful hillside and all I could think was "how would you get out to the middle to look for slugs?"

Phil, that woodland scene is gorgeous!

MocassinLanding, we do have a hammock down in the lawn. I'm going to try to move it into this area tomorrow. There would be a great view from up there as Esox said. I have a bench in the other corner so the hammock would be a good way to mix it up.

love this site:)

Anita

Anita, that is exactly WHY I don't have my hosta all snug up against each other! I need to access each one to hunt slugs, which I've found is the best way I can control them.

coll_123, love your gardens. Just beautifully done.

hostafreak, I almost expect to see garden fairies peeking out from behind the plants.

Once again, this forum is great.
Christine

Coll,I'm glad you have such good luck with Thunderbolt. Mine died after just one season. I have a Dream Queen,which looks like it,but is still with me. Phil

I'm not on any of the photo sharing sites unfortunately, and I'm probably the only person on this forum (please don't stone me) who hates hostas. However, in bought a property swamped with what my husband calls "those cabbagey things" and since it's a huge, difficult site I have kept most of them, only removing the ones from the front. Our entire property is on sort of a double slope; right to left and back to front with 2 apple trees and one butternut. The lowest part of the back is where we have a patio, so under the apple and down each side of the steps are all hostas. I stained the fence black which made all the difference. In front of that I have dogwood and limelight hydrangea and hostas and red nancy lamium all of which pop against the black. Around the othrr sides of the patio I have more hydrangea, spirea, hostas, japanese anemone , violets, purple leaf sandcherry, burgundy ajuga, asilbe, purple rhodos, bleeding hearts and of course lots of hostas. I suggest you stain your fence, add some great flowering shrubs and some contrasting groundcover.

Here is the pic I wanted to show yesterday,but couldn't. This view is looking down the hill from the oldest part of the garden. Phil

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This slope was covered with grass when we bought the property. I have been working for 4 years on creating paths and beds with hosta and companion perennials. Still a work in progress. This picture is from the top of the hill, which slopes down to the lake.

beautiful... I love the sloped gardens with raised areas and paths... benches...etc... It will be beautiful
John

HostaHosta, I think I can see a wee bit of the blue lake through the limbs of those trees. You've done an amazing job of creating interest on your sloping hillside.

Is there any way you can limb up a few of those conifers to let more of the lake show? I can imagine what a nice place to sit there among your hosta, with a path showing a way to get to the lake. You have a wonderful property there. Blue sky and blue water, always a winning combination.

I agree with Moccasin!

Coll - what is the hosta in your 4th pic down (the yellow and green one) behind what looks like it could be Niagara Falls or Queen of the Seas?
All of these gardens are gorgeous, it makes me envious because we live in town on 80'x110' lot which isn't too small, however; I can't fit enough hosta in the gardens!

Paula, that's Liberty, from earlier this Spring.