Thanks for reposting this one, Ken! Your photos tell the whole story SO well.

-Babka

No. 97

bumpy

Timely for me; I have to move some hosta for a customer this week. This is great info and a VERY entertaining thread!

Many times this forum is more entertaining than informative, but we keep coming back. Fun place to visit.

-Babka

bump again ... for all you newbs who overplanted that 5 square feet of earth with 50 hosta .. lol

ken

thanks for the refresher Ken! I wish Paul_in_MN would start posting again. I always enjoyed his gardens etc. from when I first started at GW.

I just saw a link for this post on the facebook page of the American Hosta Society...

I wish Paul would post again too. I loved his garden pics!

I always loved that picture and bought myself one because of this very picture. Mine is not that big yet though.

Glad to see your still around!

Good to hear from you Paul. Sorry about your balance/strength issues. Do you take a Vitamin D supplement? My dad was having issues and one of the things his Dr. recommended was Vit.D. Dad felt it definitely made an improvement for him.

Would love to see more of your old pictures if you have time to post them so I can reminisce. There are so many great gardens and posters here but I guess as a fellow Minnesotan, I always felt like yours was something to strive for. I had trouble finding old posts from you in the Gardenweb days now that it is on Houzz. Sorry, not stalking, really.

Hello, Paul! So good to hear from you. So sorry about the balance and leg-strength issues - garden maintenance definitely takes a backseat in favour of safety any day! I hope your garden provides you with enjoyment nevertheless and that your over-all good health continues!

Sincerely,

Jo.

Paul, your pictures were always gorgeous. I have so many old threads bookmarked because of your gardens. I agree with Sue, its nice to see what other people in Minnesota have had success with......

I just read an old post about using Milorganite you commented on. I did try it this spring, and the hosta seem to love it, unfortunately, it didn't slow my rabbits down.

Nice to see you. I wish Melissa would show up too. Another person in Minnesota with beautiful gardens.

Melissa posted a few weeks ago, I recall, just not sure which forum-MN gardening perhaps?

Thank you for reposting this, Ken! I've always had excellent results following your instructions (though now I always end with sterilizing the tools!)

I used this tutorial back in the day so many times I can't count. 100% success every time. The one thing they do not prepare one for is all the questions and weird looks when I left the blue tape on!! I found that paint tape to be less damage causing, but mostly very available in my home. I did have my turgidity response at the ready so all is good. LOL

I used this method to transplant some bushes for a friend, so as not to damage branches and give ease of access... it was a huge hit and simplified the job. Made me look like a genius, lolz. I gave you credit Ken :)

Well I have no idea how I missed this thread the first, second, or third time it's bounced to the top. All I can say is, if men read romance novels they would know what turgid meant.

Littlebug - LOLOLOLOLOL!

Also, Paul -- ditto what they all said... I've been missing your posts, too!

time for a bump... note rope and tape trick...ken

Useful thread.

Hey Ken- Too much scrolling down. Will you just make a new post complete with narrative and photos? Everyone needs to see this post. Enough bumping.

-Babka

Babka, for me scrolling an older post like this is to read all the banter back and forth and that makes it all fun. The original start of the thread is still in place and takes you to the meat of the post, no need to scroll unless you want to....

Pieter

I agree that it's interesting to read all of the commentary in an older thread like this one.

let the good times roll ... time to move some of those plants that are bugging you ... show them whose boss ... leave them on the driveway for a few mins ...

ken

i reposted those pix 26 days ago ... and i will do it again.. when my headache goes away ..

ken

I used Ken's method but I would caution against watering too heavily too close to moving day. The soil will weigh a ton and you'll be mud wrestling with that hosta until you fall back exhausted into the muck. I couldn't possibly wrestle a huge wet hosta out of the ground alone at this point of my life, as I barely succeeded 5 years ago. Unfortunately the new location gets too much afternoon western sun and the hostas are burning. Burn they will, unless I hire someone to move them again. Though I could do it in the fall and not water before I move them and not fuss if I break some roots or eyes off. That's a lot to ask of myself. But my standards are falling lower every year as I concede perfectionism to aging.

Ken lives in a sandbox. YMMV (your milage may vary) used to be different strokes for different folks...same deal.

-Babka

I don't see what a new thread about this every couple of years would hurt.

I know when I open a thread and all of the photos in the very first post are dead I just think "Well, crap, guess I missed out" and I move on to the next site I have lined up. It would not necessarily occur to me that if I scrolled and read for a while (a long while in this age of no attention span) I would find the photos reposted later on.

An old timer would read for sure just to see what all the interest was about. But a newbie just cruising by here for the first time might not realize that and I know when I am in a hurry to learn about a new plant I am in a hurry.

Just a thought. I have a hunky husband to move all my plants for me :) Got him out in the woods right now digging out naturalized Rose of Sharons. Eat your heart out.

can you see the old pix?

Yep, your old pics are still there.

I can see the old pix, but wheres the driveway?

Something has changed then? The old pics are visible again?

Wow, I was randomly googling to find tips for transplanting mature hosta and this popped up. This is very good info to have and the pics are very useful. I was going to use garden twine to close the plant but hadn't thought to use tape. That's a great idea as I was concerened just using twine should destroy leaves. I am moving hosted from a fully shaded location to a part sun location because of a fence install. I want to minimize stress as much as I can so this looks like the best approach. Will get new homes dug and over the next week. I am still wondering if I should bring leaf mould from the original bed to the new location as well. Probably wouldn't hurt.

i am not a hosta newbie but I am redesigning my gardens in anticipation of aging in place. Hosta are some the few perennials I will keep. Likely will stick with flowering shrubs and natives for my zone 5 Chicago garden.

Bumping this because Im still learning and had no idea about leaving the leaves taped up! I will be planting quite a few new hostas this coming spring so great info to have - Thanks for the pictures and descriptions!

It can be easier to move them in the spring after the pips have popped up but before the leaves have unfurled.

I agree with you whitwatervol but sometimes that isnt an option. I did get mine moved. But they had to wait before I could get them back in the ground after the fence install. They were shaded and watered well so that helped but...

This spring I will see how many survived and how much I might have set them back.

Well Ken, this thread never dies apparently. Now I know the tried and true way to move a humongous hosta. I never thought it should be wet—-oh my gosh—what a muddy mess! But it must come out better that way. I also did not know about roping and taping techniques. Who da thought? So I guess I will have to be an “urban cowgirl“.... :-) Thanks again for teaching all of us about proper hosta management!

For what it’s worth all my hosta survived the move using this technique. Some remained in pots all winter but survived the -55 wind chill in pots!!! all are back in ground and thriving. Having a very wet spring helped all plants recover well. Most did not have much of a set back.

bump

time to bump this one again .... ken

I didn’t move a large leafed out hosta but using the same method, separated Halcyon leaves from a large June. I followed Ken’s directions and it worked perfectly! However, one thing ken doesn’t tell you........it’s a dirty job!! lol

debra

gardens dress accordingly .. and go play in the dirt ... whats this nonsense about too dirty ..

if you dont have mud in your eyebrows.. in your hair.. and gritting in your teeth.. you are a gardener..

btw ... this is the type of thing i would do at the very last.. just before heading into to the laundry room to throw everything i was wearing in the washer ... and then up to the shower ... its not the job you want to do first .. lol ..

of course.. i only lander the garden clothes.. when they stand up in the corner by themselves because there is so much dirt encrusted on them .. lol .. when too encrusted.. its hard to bend your knees.. lol ...

ken

This method works and the visuals are helpful. I wouldn't have thought about using the rope first, but it's impossible to get the tape around a big hosta without it. And Spring is always so busy that I have waited to move three fully grown hostas in early fall when they were leafed out. I moved Queen of the Seas, Regal Splendor, and Liberty, and holding the leaves up with the tape does seem to help them out. All came back great looking the next year!

I have found that bungee cords work great!! And you don’t have to fiddle with tape

time for a bump .. and the bungee idea sounds great ...

ken

ooohhh the memories this evokes! Now I've taken to chunking mostly in the fall. It's just so much more realistic for me. Miss the days of 'dirt in my eyebrows'!!! Last fall I shared with my daughter who is settling into a new house. The general consensus

was my shares were very sad looking. It's great fun to 'told ya so' and gloat as they all look soo perky now!!

I use this process on a regular basis, works great! Thanks Ken.

your welcome..

i think it was bruce banyai who taught me the tie it up method ... ken