Don't plant either the poplar or the maple if you want to grow hostas in that area. The poplar sends out a lot of shallow horizontal roots that will run all over the place. And it's a weak tree that is always dropping a lot of twigs. The maple forms a huge mass of fine fibrous roots.

Oaks are great but slower growing. As a rule of thumb trees that produce nuts have deep root systems and are better for planting under.

Hi Mike,

Possibly this link to another post can be of some help...

Don B.

Here is a link that might be useful: Best trees for hostas?

Personally, I've had no problems with my hostas that are growing under Pines. (Blue Spruce NOT included).

Don B.

I wanted some blue spruce as a wind break but they wont be near hostas..thanks for the link

I'm in Texas, so what I say may not apply. The guy I bought my red oak from suggested that I plant it, give it a root stimulator every month for a year and water it every week for that first year. After that just make an extra circle around the tree when I fertilized the grass. He said it would grow quickly. I've had it for 15 years and it was about 40 feet tall until our ice storm at the first of the month. I've been very pleased with the results. (The tree guy said that all red oaks that were still green were the most damaged of the trees.)

bk

Most of my hostas are under Eastern White Pines, no problems with roots.

mike .. next to your name.. way above.. can you add a city to the zone 6-7 info ...

oak.. oak.. oak ... if zone appropriate ...

i will track you down and punch you in the arm if you mess around with poplar or maple ... i simply dont want to listen to you complain for the next decade about them .. trust me ... and i will yell... ABSOLUTELY NO TREE MARKETED AS FAST GROWING ... they serve a purpose.. if properly sited.. but the purpose has nothing to do with growing a garden, UNDER THEM ....

pines .. are not an issue.. EXCEPT.. under mature pines.. its a desert ... watering would be an issue ....

spruce.. the same ...

its all about your soil ... and how water moves thru it.. and then.. add trees on top of that.. to form the equation as to what is hosta conducive ...

location.. soil type.. perk test results ... etc .. then we can talk about good trees ...

ken

I tried to change my location in my profile but IDK if it worked... Anyway I live in Northern KY..about 50 miles north of louisville and 50 miles south of Cincinnati OH. I am also RIGHT on the river. Its maybe a mile due north and you run into it. I do get single digit temps regular but I haven not seen 0 or below in over 5 years...now for the soil and perk test you will have to give me a min or 2..but I will return with results

I keep my tall pines limbed up to 30 ft, so light and moisture can reach underneath. I also water with sprinklers, hostas grow well. Bernd

Yes Bernd, my pines are getting nice and big, but are not yet quite fully grown. I just make sure they and the hostas get plenty of water under there. Also have had good growth from the hostas. And the pines.

Don B.

I have two red maples that shade my front hosta bed. If I could yank the monsters out and plant another species, full grown, I would in a heartbeat. Any tree that sets seeds by the billions, is a curse to be avoided. I have hosta under a tall blue spruce, branched trimmed 6' from the ground so I can see them. My favorite hosta bed is under a trimmed doublefile viburnum. I planted it 7 years ago. It's 12' tall, trimmed up a few feet from the ground, thinned to my liking, and of stunning display.

unbidden, I also just trimmed up a such a very large viburnum which is beautiful with its large flowers in spring. That was a very large bush once and now is a multi-stem tree with hostas underneath. There is 5 ft air underneath, and long branches still need trimming after blooming. Bernd

Unbidden, do you have a photo of the doublefile viburnum underplanted with Hosta. I'd love to see one.

Steve