Moving Hostas Now

ejr2005

10 years ago

I'm rearranging my gardens and am thinking of moving a few hostas now. I usually plant/move earlier in the fall, but have been busy with other things.

We've have warmer than usual weather - no freezes yet. But it's turning colder and with night temps going into the 30's.

What do you think?

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Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
how big

does your ground freeze ..

do you plan on dividing

should you worry about heave??

ken
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ejr2005
Original Author
10 years ago
Katie Q is pretty big - maybe 2 1/2 -3' wide. Cascades is small - about a year and a half old. Maybe a couple of others that would be in between.

I guess our ground will eventually freeze - but I've planted things well into December and the ground wasn't frozen. I guess it could depend on snow cover which is very variable here.

I'm not dividing.

I guess I should worry about heave, but I haven't found it with any of my normal sized hostas. I have on occasion found it with minis that are planted in old steps that have become "planters." I'm thinking that they are more exposed to freeze/thaw cycles than the ground. Also they are my "nursery" for younger/smaller plants, and the soil isn't that deep. I keep an eye on them, especially in the spring and some have come out of the ground a bit. I have just planted them back in the ground or covered more of their roots with soil and they've been fine. The hostas I want to move will not go into those "planters."

I should add that we have lots of oak leaves and are planning to shred them and cover the beds, especially those with newer plantings. I also just bought a hay bale that I was going to use on some areas like the fall planted daylily beds. I could get more for the hostas.
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Gesila, the one in the middle is Dream Queen. The hostas are from the lower left,going up to the right are;Francee,Rainforest Sunrise,Carolina Blue,Great Expectations,Wide Brim,and a Frozen Margarita.It is bright here,because this is before noon. After noon,and especially from 1pm on,this area is in shade. One of my favorite times to visit this part of the garden. Yes.we have mosquitoes,but I wear on of those Off! repellants,with the little fan,which keeps the little devils away. The worst thing is the sweat gnats,which fly into your eyes and ears and drive you nuts! At least they don't bite! Phil
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Actually, hostas are warm (hot) season growers. They put on all of their root growth in June, July, and August (as well as earlier and later in warmer climates), so summer is an ideal time to move and divide them. Fall is the worst time, spring is usually better as you won't lose any stems and the plants themselves look better as they unfurl. But if you don't mind a couple floppy stems (center eyes aren't as strong because they are often held up by the outer stems) or losing a few leaves this time of year, then chop them up into as many pieces as you want, don't worry about saving all the roots, and they will put on all new root growth immediately after planting and watering. Just remember to keep them planted at the SAME depth as they were previously growing. New roots develop on the crown just at or a little above the old roots, near the top of the crown. If you plant them high (as shown in the instructions here on garden web) then they will struggle to grow new roots and will struggle to ever take up water, hence the problem with continuously flopping stems that cause people to get out the masking tape to hold up. Instead, just plant them at the same level as before, water them really good, and most divisions will hold themselves up just fine. In 4 to 6 weeks the new divisions will be almost fully rooted for the winter. If you wait until fall they won't put out any new root growth until the following summer, usually starting in June, so in the fall you would definitely want to salvage as many roots as possible. Hope that helps to clear up some of the misconceptions going around on this topic. Chris
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If you need more reinforcement for moving hostas now I'll add my 2 pennies. I used a filed 14' boat, a filled pickup bed and still needed the backseat of a car to get about 16 mature hostas moved 550 miles from northern Arkansas to Illinois and never lost a plant. It was in the 90's temp-wise. Once at their new home all I could do was dig quick holes, stomp the plants in, and water like crazy. In a week they may have looked a little ragged but not bad. My S&S had the hardest time-it made the trip in the boat inside a clear plastic bag (with holes in it to keep it from getting steamed) to keep the wind from tearing up the leaves. The next spring I started top dressing etc. Les
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eOld 1900's greenhouse /field nursery cleanliness operating procedures required bleaching pots/tools/accessories with dilute bleach ( 10% or less solutions) to kill any pathogenic bacteria/soilborne fungi that would quickly attack plant roots. With that background our family has done this since opening the family greenhouse in the 1920's and the nursery business subsequent. My mother began bleaching hosta divisions when that was the only way to propagate them (before tc) and had very good success with overall plant disease control. I have done the same since.. After dividing, using cool water to dilute, leave roots in diluted bleach solution up to one hour or until the root tissues smell of bleach when you remove them. Remove and air dry then replant. Avoid bleach solution temps getting warm, leaving them to soak in the sun or letting them soak too long so the tissue as the root issue will get soft.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
big plant.. big wad of soil ... do it.. forget about it ...

tiny plant.. no soil attached.. heave is an issue ...

but dont worry about cascades... it will eventually die regardless.. lol .. no better than GE or remember me ... etc ...

yeah.. yeah.. someone will pop in with a pic of the only successful one in the universe.. just to mock me ... go for it ...

hosta are no different than any other perennial.. if not more bulletproof.. do what you usually do ...

ken
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ejr2005
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Ken. They're moving this weekend.

Didn't know that Cascades would be like GE. I had GE in my step pot for 3 years. Moved it to the ground last year. It seemed very happy and gained a lot of size. Then I moved it to a real pot because it was a little too close to the new foliar nem hosta. It died over the winter. Sad.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
had about 18 GE... never got one to live 3 years ...

what are you sad about??? .. get over it.. its a piece of carp ...

lol

ken

ps: no pity parties over lost GE .... more of a welcome to my world party ....
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linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
10 years ago
GE: GReat Expectations? I suppose the name could lead to excessive optimism.
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User
10 years ago
That's a party I won't be attending ever, since I don't plan on moving to Michigan......upper OR lower......and that's the only place I'm told that they prosper.

Like with potato chips, with GE you cannot stop with one. Get back on the wagon and try again.
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hostahillbilly
10 years ago
GE is popular, BIG TIME, and for MANY good reasons.

QUIT moving the classic goyl, QUIT dissing one of the TOP 10 BEAUTIFUL HOSTA OF ALL TIME, PLS.

Yeah, after over 850 cultivars, we've had > 100 failures.

With the possible exception of 'Embroidery', the interestingly, widely as regards growing zones, Genus Hosta, is probably the safest bet in the world of temperate-zone perennials.

Phew, rant attack relief off, ahhhhh

hh
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Moving Hostas Now

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

ejr2005
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Moving Hostas Now

Comments (8)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

ejr2005Original Author

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ejr2005
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