Planting hostas without leaves, advice please

9 years ago

Everytime I tell my self I'm done for the year, I end up seeing one of your great photos and order another. And because shipping doesn't make sense for just 1 hosta, you end up ordering more. The supplier I ordered this last batch from called to say they will be cutting the leaves off and shipping bare root. I've also ordered one from a forum member that will arrive the same, no leaves. Is there anything special that should be done to give them the best chance of surviving winter? Or are they like any other hosta, just plop them in the ground and water until frost?

Do you water till frost then stop?

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Comments (11)

DelawareDonna
9 years ago
Bunga - You answered your own question. The leaves would be dying off anyway in the ground. Most of the hosta I've planted were bare root, and they have done well.

DD
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
can you change that NONE next to your name.. to a big city name??? .. its on your members page somewhere .... click your own name ...

frost is irrelevant .. thats an air thingee... one might presume.. the roots will be in the ground ...

i need to know.. if your ground freezes ...

we will take care of these... but its probably time to stop buying ... to be on the safe side ...

if you are getting bargains galore ... and dont mind losing one or two ... and they will be the best ones.. lol ... then keep going for it..

the issue is ground settling.. and winter heave ... and that could be solved thru heavy mulch after full dormancy ....

the key is ALWAYS ... get them dormant.. keep them dormant ... and you win ... any of this in and out of dormancy during winter.. can become very problematic ....

and to be clear... the hosta itself.. is bulletproof ... its what might happen to them.. due to winter ...

ken
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BungalowMonkeys
Original Author
9 years ago
Just changed it to reflect my zone. Didn't realize you could do that. Just assumed you guys were really good at remembering to fill it out every post.

Agreed, time to stop for this year. Almost all the hostas coming are your normal hostas, nothing rare. More Elegant, is the hosta coming from a member and the one i'm most concerned with surviving the winter.

With the roots not getting a chance to get a hold in the ground, would planting these hostas in my normal soil (red clay like) be best to prevent that heaving? It seems heavier than the soil that gets amended. Then replant in the spring in the good soil?

Also with mulch, had planned on collecting all the leaves in the yard, putting them through the chopper and then doing a nice layer. Or is it better to buy pine mulch?
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
whatever mulch.. the key is.. to mulch heavy AFTER full dormancy ...

you do NOT want to trap heat.. and stall full dormancy ...

let them get fully dormant... and then mulch heavy ...

i wouldnt spend money on some magic mulch ...

is heave an issue in your z6????

mulch protects in late fall ... and late winter ... winter itself is not really the issue ...

we dont want some early warming.. and the hosta coming out of dormancy ... and then winter returning ... so the mulch is a winter blanket ... to keep the soil from warming too early ... it also helps retain soil moisture...

am i getting you there?????

ken
BungalowMonkeys
Original Author
9 years ago
Got it. Heavy mulch, don't worry about the kind. I have no idea if heave is an issue here. Being my first season gardening and first winter worrying about my plants, I don't know. Heave is from freezing, then thawing and repeat a bunch of times, right? 15 years living in VA and I don't really know how our ground responds to winter. Before this year never really had a reason to pay attention. Will google it.
mac48025 ( SE michigan)
9 years ago
You'll be fine bungalow if you do as Ken recommends. Now repeat after me ...." I am done buying hosta's this year! Really I am. I think. I hope. ". Can you do it girl? Just think of all the new hosta's that will be showing up in catalogs and websites very soon for 2015 shipping. Do I see an early Christmas present for yourself soon? Happy planting. I love your enthusiasm btw.
BungalowMonkeys
Original Author
9 years ago
Lol Mac, that is pretty much what I say in my mind. This last order truly is my last. Unless I win one of the auctions my name somehow got on. But after that, I'm truly hopefully done. Chris from Hallsons said the 2015 list will be out around Christmas time. Plus at some point the garden needs other plants. I could see how your job would be very enjoyable. You have a creative outlet, get to work outside and of course the shopping.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
in my z5 MI ... rocks pop themselves out of the soil during the freeze thaw cycles in spring .... they are heaved ... see link

if your late planted plants.. are not rooted in soon enough.. the soil not settled enough .... they can heave out of the ground ... and its really bad.. in non snow cover winters.. if this happens in feb or march.. because you dont usually find them until late april ... and by then.. they are freeze dried and dead... like that two year old raw chicken in the freezer ...

many peeps of many regions read every post.. so i provide the link ... i realize many of you warm zone peeps have your own devils.. and not heave.. but i dont know the line of demarcation ...

in warm zones.. again.. get them dormant.. and keep them dormant.. and that is the key ... a good mulching.. helps keep them dormant later into spring .... whenever that may be for you.. wherever you may be ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
hostatakeover swMO
9 years ago
Thanks for all your responses, Ken. I had these same questions and worries and you really helped.

Bungalow, you're a hoot! I can SO relate.....I can't stop buying either, and I'm still waiting for my last two to arrive. I have so many lined up on the porch, waiting to be planted, because it's such an undertaking to dig a hole here. I still thought I'd have everything in by 1st frost, but then last week I discovered daylilies.....

My husband thinks I'm crazy. Odds are good he's right.
BungalowMonkeys
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, thank you Ken. Do have one last question. Is it safe to assume they are fully dormant once the leaves fall off easily?

Lol on the daylilies. You might be in real trouble being a hostaholic and daylily fanatic. My great aunt is the president of a daylily organization in KY. She actually has a daylily named for her. I believe it is Kentucky Woman. Her tiny yard is hundreds of different kinds of daylilies. Not really sure how she finds the time each evening to take care of them. What two hostas are you waiting on?

My husband told me a few weeks ago "i think we are good on HYDRANGEAS, we have enough for the year" clearly pointing to my hostas. Well I did exactly as he so nicely asked, not another new hydrangea in the yard! ;)
hostatakeover swMO
9 years ago
Waiting on The Right One and Stir It Up.

That's so awesome about your Aunt and having a daylily named for her! I've heard daylilies and hostas just go together so I'm hoping to experiment with that next year. However, pretty as daylilies are my first love will always be hostas.

LOL on the Hydrangeas!! Love it.

Planting hostas without leaves, advice please

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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Planting hostas without leaves, advice please

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DelawareDonna

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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