Polk County Master Gardeners
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Hostas
Hostas are another great plant for your shade garden. They will not
tolerate full sun, but will thrive in partial shade if they don’t get too much
sun in the afternoon. They come in a variety of shades of green, some with a
blue cast and some with lighter edging to the leaves. All have attractive blooms
borne on tall, slender stems.
If you want to add some hostas to your garden, be sure to select them at a
local nursery as they will have the varieties that do well here in Arkansas and
can answer most of your questions about cultivation as well. Another source of
information is the web site at
www.hosta.net.
In general, hostas should be planted in well-drained soil with a generous
mixture of organic material such as compost or peat moss. Water them well after
planting and mulch heavily to help maintain even temperature in the soil.
Hostas should be fertilized three or four times per year with a balanced,
slow-release fertilizer such as a 13-13-13 mixture. Be sure that one of your
fertilization times is late winter or very early spring before they start to
break ground.
After your hostas have finished blooming, you should cut off the stems (scapes)
to keep the plants more attractive during the summer and fall. When the leaves
die back in the fall, you should cut them back to the ground. This will help
prevent diseases and deny a winter home to insects. Pine straw or heavy mulch
will help prevent winter damage from repeated freezing and thawing if we have
warm days and cold nights.
When your hostas become crowded, you can dig them up and divide them. There
are two schools of thought: divide in the very early spring (just as they begin
to break ground) or divide in the fall. If you decide to divide your hostas in
the spring, be sure to give them extra food and water during the months that
follow because you have damaged the roots that have stored food for the next
growing season. Whenever you divide them, be sure to use a sharp knife dipped in
fungicide and dust the cut surface with a fungicide as well.
And next summer you can sit back in the shade and enjoy the view.
By Barbara M. Tobias
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