Practical guides to planting, growing and choosing hostas, from our team in the Dutch bulb region.
Design & companions
A good shade border is built in layers: large hostas and tall partners at the back, medium hostas in the middle and small ones at the front. Repeat a few varieties in groups of three or five, contrast broad hosta leaves with fine ferns or grasses, and add spring bulbs for colour before the hostas wake.
4 min read
Design & companions
Hostas and ferns are a natural pair: both like moist, humus-rich soil in partial or full shade, and the fine, divided fronds of a fern make the broad hosta leaf stand out. Choose ferns that suit your moisture, give each plant its full spacing and keep fast spreaders such as ostrich fern away from small hostas.
4 min read
Problems & pests
Hostas are late risers: established clumps rest until mid-spring, and a newly planted division usually shows two to four weeks after planting, later in cold soil. Before you worry, scrape the soil away and press the crown. Firm, pale tissue means it is alive; a soft, mushy or foul-smelling crown has rotted, and missing shoots may have been eaten by slugs or rodents.
6 min read
Planting
Plant hostas in spring, as soon as the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged, and up to early summer: bare-root divisions establish best then and have a whole season to root before winter. Potted hostas can also go in during autumn while the soil is moist. Avoid midsummer heat and midwinter cold.
9 min read
Planting
A bare-root hosta is a division of a mature plant: a crown with one or more buds and its roots, without soil and usually without leaves. It is not a bulb. Unpack it on arrival, give the roots 1–2 hours in a bucket of water and plant it with the crown at or just below ground level.
8 min read
Problems & pests
To stop slugs eating hostas, protect the young shoots in spring: check the plants at dusk and after rain, remove what you find, water in slug nematodes once the soil has warmed up, and grow thick-leaved varieties. Copper tape, grit, wool pellets and eggshells did nothing to reduce the damage when the RHS put them to the test.
9 min read
Planting
Most hostas grow best in partial shade: a few hours of gentle morning sun and shade for the rest of the day. Blue and white-centred varieties want the most shade, gold and yellow ones colour best with some sun, and sun-tolerant varieties cope with more light as long as their soil stays moist.
9 min read
Care & seasons
A newly planted hosta spends its first year making roots. Shoots usually appear two to four weeks after planting, the leaves stay small, and flowers tend to wait until the second year. Keep the soil moist all summer, protect young shoots from slugs and frost, and expect a full clump in three to five years.
9 min read
Design & companions
Plant hostas with shade lovers that differ in leaf or season: spring bulbs that flower before hostas wake, fine-leaved ferns and grasses, and summer flowers such as astilbe, Solomon's seal or foam flower. Match each partner's needs for moisture and shade to the spot, and give the hosta enough room to reach full size.
9 min read
Propagation
Divide a hosta in early spring, when the pointed shoots are just breaking through, or in late summer as a second choice. Lift the whole clump, cut it with a sharp spade or knife into pieces that each have roots and one to three healthy buds, replant them at the same depth straight away and water well.
8 min read
Planting
Yes, hostas can grow under trees, but the soil there is dry as well as shady, so plan for water. Choose thick-leaved or plain green varieties, plant small divisions in pockets between the roots without piling soil over them, mulch well and water deeply whenever it is dry, all through the first growing season.
8 min read
Planting
Yes, hostas grow very well in pots. Choose a frost-proof container with drainage holes, fill it with free-draining compost, and water whenever the surface feels dry. Feed through spring and early summer, check under the rim for slugs, and leave the pot outdoors in winter, because hostas need a cold rest to grow well the next year.
9 min read
