leave them alone for a month ...

they will reflush.. they are not dead ...

it will be much easier to remove the yucky part when it dries ... even a damage leaf can photosynthesize ...

come about july.. with the new leaf flush ... you might be surprised how removal of just a couple.. will improve the look substantially ...

sorry and good luck ...

think of it this way.. better than a tornado ...

ken

That is heartbreaking, you have my sympathy. As Ken says, leave everything alone until it is crispy dead, anything is better than nothing when it comes to plant recovery. They'll come back, but they'll be smaller. Mine got a few big holes but at least didn't get pounded to mush.

Ken is, of course, right. If you choose to remove the leaves the plant will come back with smaller leaves this year, and it will be diminished in size next year. It's much better to leave the shredded leaves on the plant and deal with the uglies this year. Those damaged leaves are feeding the plant so let them be, and the plant will continue to increase next year.

Steve

yes, ditto to the above. We had a ferocious hail storm tear through my garden in June of 2010. Many leaves were dangling by threads, but I left them all and most did not even brown up...The next year, all plants were back and better than ever. I cut one hosta all the way back to see what would happen and that hosta was greatly reduced in size the next year. Also a local shop with mature hostas out front cut all theirs back after the storm and they were all much smaller the next year. So I am so glad I left mine, ravaged as it was.

One thing that made me feel better was to get some new hostas...just having something to look at without the damage was nice. I'm so sorry about the hail- I know how heartbreaking it is.

Here is Parhelion after that storm...pretty bad. The next year it came back wonderfully

last year, right on track to being a giant

We've all had hail so we commiserate with you. It could be worse, you could have deer problems ;-).

Paul

Coll, that picture looks like a CRIME SCENE !

Paul, yours is more like a Marines first hair cut ! CLOSE !

Your Parhelion is a great example of letting well enough alone. I'll remember that when I'm tempted to remove any leaf dangling by a celery thread.

I have some white leafed and white mid-leafed hosta that look pretty much the worse for wear, but not because of hail. It is from the dropping spiky sweet gum balls, they rip through leaves all year long. Either green or ripe, those things are deadly missiles, but not hurled from more than 100 feet up, so not as bad as the hail. Just, they can do it any time there is a breeze.

Note the split leaves on White Elephant.

Sorry to see that happen. Happened to some of my plants earlier this month. This is a pretty good example of the damage. Like stated in previous answers, I'm just gonna leave 'em be until second flush. They'll be back.

Don B.

So sorry to hear about the hail damaging your hostas. But yes, hail is much better than deer or rabbits. I had a rabbit mow down my Tequila Sunrise AFTER it's second flush last year. I'ts half the size now than it was when I bought it. I also had a few more that were mowed down by the rabbits last year that didn't even come back this year.

Gesila

Thank you so much everyone for your sympathy and advice. I can't believe how upset this has me. I feel kinda like an idiot when I talk to friends and coworkers who have had car and property damage costing thousands of dollars and I'm stressing over Hosta damage. I knew you guys would understand. I will follow the "leave them alone" advice. I also intend to follow the buy more without damage advice:). That will help. Thanks again!! Gail

Sorry to hear about your hail damage. That would make me sick to my stomach. I've experienced that sort of feeling keeping corals.

A question about cutting off damaged leavesâ¦..does that mean that even if you have one or two or three damaged leaves due to a split, a burn, a critter or other damage that even those shouldn't be removed until and if they brown out?

Santa, when it's only a few leaves, it probably doesn't matter that much. When it's all of them, you get to choose between next year being smaller or looking at ugly hosta all year.

bk

I feel your pain. The size of the hail was unbelievable. They were the size of ice cubes and just walking around my gardens is sickening. All my perenials are shreaded. Does the same hold true for all the plants.

I have around 20-30 Sum and Substance throughout my yard here in Kansas. It was confirmed that virus x has contaminated them. After I dig them up & destroy, how long should I wait to replant? Does anyone have ideas for shady area under magnolia tree other than hostas? I do already have some Blue Umbrella growing there, also. Are there any resistant varieties that i should know about?

Jo, you should start a new thread with your question. You won't get the experts to comment on your question buried in this thread.

Go to the top of the hosta forum home page. Under the blue bar is a line of links. The far right one is post a message. That's the one you want. Title your posting as you have and you'll get some help.

Sorry, I don't know enough to help you.

bk

Gail, it's ok to feel upset about this...yes, there are worse calamities in life, but I remember feeling devastated when my entire garden was trashed in ten minutes. Even the daylily scapes were destroyed! I feel like we wait a long time for our gardens to mature and come awake from winter dormancy and my garden is a huge source of happiness for me, so when my husband remarked, after the storm, that they were "just plants", lets just say that did not go over well. We here get it. The good news is that there is no permanent damage and it is still early so many of them may surprise you by sending up growth that will camouflage the damage. Some are better than others at that, like the Stained Glass family.