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kitasei

what's the limit of an expanse of hosta?

kitasei
9 years ago

I have a bare shaded sloping area where I've grown hosta successfully. I am tempted to keep filling it with a hosta. But I don't think I've ever seen a broad expanse of hosta - just borders, or punctuations in shade gardens. Has anyone seen the equivalent of a field of hosta?? Would the slugs take over??

Comments (18)

  • Steve Massachusetts
    9 years ago

    You mean like this? Nope, never seen it.

  • Gesila
    9 years ago

    The only limit is your budget. Here's a part of my gardens, as you can see, I started digging out more grass to add another row! I've also started planting them in the park in back of me (behind the fence).

    Looking west:

    Looking east:

    Gesila

  • User
    9 years ago

    Oh gee, Gesila! I had not seen the bottom picture of your garden. The hosta on the other side of the fence are coming along very nicely too. I wish you'd go up close to the fence and give us a good look at what is there. Does the town know yet? I'd just tell them the hosta seeded themselves and are all volunteers!
    Oh boy, that is a tremendous view! Your garden is beautiful as always.

    Ever heard of a "stile"?
    I think you need to have one set up so you can climb up one side and down the other into the park. Steps, you know.

  • paul_in_mn
    9 years ago

    Click on link below to see a hillside of Gold Standards.

    Paul

    Here is a link that might be useful: 1000's Gold Standard in one hillside bed for impact

  • coll_123
    9 years ago

    I remember that post, Paul, and glad you reposted it. Hostas are considered "grouncovers" by many sources, that those of us that frequent hosta forums tend to treat them more as individual specimens or focal points in our home gardens. But I think they can make quite an impact in mass plantings, too. The botanical gardens in Mid Coast Maine has a lot of mass plantings of hosta.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    9 years ago

    I know first hand that the only limit is how much SPACE you have. I followed the link thoroughly enjoyed seeing that whole hillside of Gold Standards. Only in my dreams...

    -Babka

  • don_in_colorado
    9 years ago

    Great pic, Steve.

    Gesila, my head just exploded!

    Don B.

  • flower_frenzy
    9 years ago

    Gorgeous pics!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    is that solberg.. he's getting older than me.. i thought it might not be.. but i think that is his wife. pretending she isnt with him .. lol .. some old hippies never grow up ... lol.. all the power to them ...

    as to OP ... focus.. lol.. the slope will be the issue.. when you try to drown your hosta.. as they prefer ... you will need to figure out how to get the water in the ground to about a foot.. before it runs down hill ...

    figure out how to water them on a slope ... and you win ..

    and dont delude yourself.. in thinking that you will NOT need to be proactive with slugs .. if your second base questions is.. simply put.. can you do it w/o battling the rats with slime.. no you cant... but killing them is the fun part

    ken

  • DelawareDonna
    9 years ago

    Oh my Gesila, what beautiful beds you have!

    CD

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    9 years ago

    Gesila, my jaw dropped to the ground, aka Jim Carey style! Stunning and ... How many hostas are in that sea? Wow! Those are beautiful.

    Jo

  • kitasei
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    This was great to wake up to these responses and images! For my site, I think a sea of hosta with white would be very effective. Yes, it is sloping, although not steeply. What is the best way for me to capture the water, and to manage the slugs? By the way, yes we have deer. We also have an 8 foot fence which will hopefully keep them out. It's hard to keep them out in winter when a lake entry freezes over, but does it matter if they eat the dead leaves?

  • esther_b
    9 years ago

    Gesila, I just sent those 2 pics to my Brooklyn friend Suri. We've been planting the semi-circles under these 2 giant ball-shaped bushes she has in the front yard (by Brooklyn standards a front yard; by anyone else's standards, a postage stamp) with annuals for years. Now the curb tree has overshadowed her yard, making annuals choices slim indeed. I have convinced her to GO HOSTA and HEUCHIE around the bushes and have scoured several companies' hosta offerings for those in the 24" and under category.

    I hope your pics inspire her that hostas can be pretty without any flowers, especially when kept company with heuchies.

  • hosta_freak
    9 years ago

    Gesila,now I know why I can't post anymore pics on the forum. Your garden supercedes anything I can ever show! I have a neighbor down the hill from me who has a whole hillside covered with nothing but Ventricosas,the result of leaveing them to self-seed themselves for years. Phil

  • MadPlanter1 zone 5
    9 years ago

    Lovely, Gesila! I'm aiming at a similar effect, but my beds still have lots of empty space, since I planted allowing space for mature hostas. Do you crowd yours a bit and then move them, or are they adults?

  • Gesila
    9 years ago

    Madplanter, I crowd them a bit, but also plant them up in pots to fill in the spaces. I think I only moved one hosta out of that area last year and I know of one that will have to come out this year. I have a lot of raised beds and pots on bricks. The hardest part in creating the garden was the get texture in it. My property slopes downward towards the fence.

    And Phil, your gardens have been an inspiration to me. Every time I'm out in the park working, I think of your natural woodland setting.

    I love the picture of the 1000 Gold Standards. I was actually in the park all day moving some of the Undulata Albomarginata's into the park to create a mass planting. The rabbits and the slugs have always left them alone, and they can look good without much water.

    Drymanhattan, I use "Mister Landscaper" for irrigation. It's an inexpensive "do it yourself" solution and it can be put on a timer. You'll want to water early in the day. It does tend to help in the control of slugs.

    I've spent years battling the slugs and rabbits. This is the first year that the rabbits haven't gotten a single hosta in my garden. I was able to control the slugs last year until the 4th of July. I used to use a ton of slug bait but noticed last year that toads have set up home in my front gardens and control the slugs. It's an area that I never used slug bait for fear of the dogs eating them. This year, I'm using coffee grounds and nature in the back and am going to see what happens.

    Deer will eat your hosta, but if you can keep them out with the fence, you won't have to worry about them. It won't hurt them to eat the dead hosta leaves.

    Gesila

  • flowerchild59
    9 years ago

    Beautiful pics.

  • Jon 6a SE MA
    9 years ago

    The limit to the expanse of hosta is time.

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