Why not? Yours appear to be thriving. ;)

Donna, That's the point Jon is making in his characteristically humorous way.

haha I planted a June under the maple tree to see how it will do. So we'll see. Yours are rocking it!

This is 3' away from the base of a 40 yo maple!

Thanksssss everyone. I think they just have to be tough. I know my Sieboldiana is.

Jon

I have planted some right between the roots of a big 4-stemmed alder. I had to cut the roots as I was digging...I only read later it's a bad idea. I'll see what happens.

Methinks that the older the trees are, the better luck with growing hostas underneath them. Mine was just a little over 10 years old so, not knowing anything about trees, I just supposed that the feeder roots were still too close to the surface and robbed my hostas of any moisture I supplied them....even though I soaked the entire area, not just the hostas.

I tried to grow Plantaginea and Undulata but now that I am wiser, lol, they were not up to surviving there.

Jon has the right idea - choose the right, tough hosta and it will do well!

I simply removed the maples first, and then planted the hostas. Otherwise water and fertilize the whole area, not only the hostas.

Sometimes hostas plant themselves in a maple tree. These were here, in the crotch of a Norway maple, when we bought the house five years ago, and have come back nicely every year. Patriot, perhaps?

*cough*

I have had mixed results planting under Japanese maples. Touch of Class does well but June has struggled right next door.

Great idea in a tree crouch for planting . My silver Popular has an identical spot for one. I will do a hosta that I have several of the same. Kind of interesting idea bookwoman.

I think the interesting idea was nature's own. I have the feeling that the small clump of hosta you see on the ground in the second picture produced seeds that wound up in the tree.

As far as seedlings go from hosta they generally just don't come true to the parent and come out pretty much green . I have many seedlings and so far they are all greens. All the ones in this little area are all volunteer I moved

I like the 'Crotch Hosta' a lot. I have a big old oak tree that has large rotted out hole where a large branch was cut off....now if you where to put in a pressure treated wood plug with drilled drainage holes in the hole. lined it with landscape fabric and filled it with soil I bet a hosta would love it and maybe even survive the Winter quite nicely in there???? It would definitely be different.

Jon

almosthooked, I defer to the hosta experts here, of which I certainly am not one. But I know the people we bought the house from - they had a landscaping firm put in all their plantings, and I doubt they planted a hosta in a tree. Although you never know....

I'd still like to know if it's Patriot or not....

(Too many ellipses...I'm starting to channel ken!)

I had success for about 10 years under a huge old silver maple, then, the hostas just started to diminish for no apparent reason....maybe the maple roots got into the bed, because I do remember digging out the hostas and there were maple roots in them. Changed the whole dang garden over to geranium macrorhizzum...which works great under a maple, btw.... 3-4 years later, the maples came down. Now I COULD have hostas, but my sunburst honeylocust doesn't actually provide that much shade, so I pretty much plant for sun.

I do think it's very important to try things out (if you have have the time and can afford it)...what works for one person, might not work for the next, and vice versa.

Specialmn, here I thought a Sunburst Locust be perfect for hostas? I am coveting my next door neighbour's Locust at the moment as I think it would be ideal in my back yard - perfect dappled light!

Josephine, I do think Sunburst is perfect....I bought two of them. However, the location faces south and gets a full day of sun from East to West...the tree canopy is high and the plants get A LOT of sun and light. In my backyard, I have a lot of blues under another Sunburst and they do fine, but that's Eastern light and around mid-day, they get some relief from the house shadow until about 4-5 pm. My trees were purchased large (big truck with big spade) because I'm impatient, but they are still fairly young as trees go.

Sure sounds like you have a large yard ...I envy you having not just one, but two! The one next door was such a wee stick four years ago - I think it will grow too large for my neighbours yard....maybe I can get it transferred, lol!

Your blues must look lovely beneath the tree.

I may be mistaken here but I believe the closer to the tree you plant, the better. It is the feeder roots that take up moisture and nutrients, not the large roots extending nearest from the trunk. The thickest concentration of feeder roots will be near the drip line of the tree and i would assume be the least desirable place to plant hostas. It did look like most of the pictures showed planting right close to the trunk.

Old Dirt, I have hosta far from this maple that seem to be doing fine. The roots definitely extend to these areas. I think maybe it is a matter of:

1- Being tough.

2- Being capable of sending roots outside of the zone occupied by the maple (or other tree). Say the maple roots go down 2 feet, then a hosta that can go down 30 inches or more has a good chance of escaping being strangled. Even getting to an area where roots are sparser would help the hosta to survive. I have no problem growing any under pine trees and I assume this is because they are shallow rooted and have fibrous roots systems where hosta can compete.

Jon

Bookwoman, looks like undulata albomarginata

Thanks, mybrownthumb, that does look like it.

IF I were planting hosta under maple, I'd use 'spin-out' bags to plant them in. Our red pines choke some hostas, but our jack pine doesn't, hmmmm.

My maple is a Schwedler Maple and it has roots going all over. The Elegans is 13 years old, I'm pretty sure. I have taken five good size divisions off it and it has never skipped a beat.