Every year I tell myself I ’m hold up to embrace the winter season and enjoy the outgrowth of putting my industrial plant to layer until the following saltation .
And every year , my effort at better my attitude is seriously challenge when it come to saying “ goodbye ” to my hostas .
They are such a honest , ever - present part of my spring , summer , and fall garden that it feels like watching dear friends depart on a month - recollective holiday without me . Do n’t go !
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Hostas , unlike me , want to experience a time period of frost to grow and flower their best .
So we do n’t want to protect them from the cold . But there are thing we can do to encourage healthy maturation next class .
Potted specimens need more forethought than those in the ground . They ’re a bit more expose out there .
Think of it like the departure between living in a tent and living in a well - insulated house – that ’s how the base sense in a container versus the soil .
If you need a refresher on how to develop hostas , find out out our guide .
Here are the steps we ’ll discuss to protect your Funka in the winter :
How to Care for Hostas in Winter
As with all perennials , yourUSDA Hardiness Zoneand the plant ’s geographical zone rating dictate how you should care for your plants .
A Zone 4 to 8 hosta cultivar grown in Zone 6 is going to need less overprotect over than the same industrial plant might if it was grown in Zone 4 .
You should also keep microclimates in head . Every garden has its own microclimates , and they can impact the work you need to do .
In a snug spot protect from freezing wind and extreme variations in temperature , you may probably skip the mulching step , for representative .
Some area gather more wet , some are drier , some think over heat , and others stay put colder .
Finally , do n’t simulate that just because your plant was fine last twelvemonth , it will be o.k. this class .
Pests can build up in numbers over years , a peculiarly harsh wintertime might cause unusual damage , or a works might have been accent in the former acquire season .
Prepare to adapt as needed from one develop season to the next .
1. Remove the Leaves
If you do nothing else on this list , do n’t decamp this stride .
In the capitulation , commonly after a frost arrives , the leaves will plough yellow and browned , and will crumble into a schmalzy mess .
The existence wo n’t end if you do n’t absent the dead leaves and leafstalk , but you may greatly reduce the opportunity of pests and diseases finding their way into your hostas if you do .
Plus , it just looks better .
remove foliage also deniesslugs and snailsa place to hide out and breed . That imply you ’ll be dealing with fewer mollusks next year . Hooray !
Get out a pair of scissors grip and cut off all of the spent leaf at earth level .
We loosely care to wait until the leaves choke back on their own because we can be sure all the nutrients in the farewell have been stored up by the roots .
Toss the leave in yourcompost quite a little .
But wait ! There is an exception to this …
If your genus Hosta are infested with nematodes , do n’t await until the leafage die back . Once they startturning yellowin the fall , get out there and remove them .
That path , all the nematodes do n’t have time to cash in one’s chips the parting and move to the soil and roots . This wo n’t do away with a nematode plague , but it will help to cut back it .
Dispose of the cut allow rather than toss away them in the compost if you had an infestation or if they were diseased .
To learn more about nematodes , such as how to affirm that your plant have them , read our usher to hosta pestis .
2. Mulch
Mulching is optional , but I strongly boost it in areas where the conditions on a regular basis freezes and then warms . The repeated frost - thaw cycle can earnestly damage roots .
Mulch help moderate the chemise between temperature and protect the flora ’s roots .
Mulchingis especially helpful for freshly plant hostas , which have n’t had time to establish a large , full-bodied root system yet .
It ’s also extra beneficial for potted plants , which are more vulnerable to the personal effects of suspend and warming , and icing heaving .
Straw , foliage bedding , shredded barque , pine boughs , or well - rotted compost all work well as mulch .
I personally stick to with pine or straw because bullet do n’t seem to like them as much as they like leaf bedding and shredded bark .
utilize a few inches of mulch , and be sure to withdraw it in the early give . If you leave the mulch in place , it can repress the plant or cause peak putrefaction .
3. Stop Feeding
You ’ve get down enough going on in the declination – do n’t add unneeded fecundation to the list .
genus Funka do n’t ask much fertilizer in general , but feeding in the fall can in reality harm the plants and your environment .
Excess fertilizer might run off into domain where you do n’t need it , include waterways .
It also promote raw growth right when the plants should be putting themselves to bed .
Once you bulge out design your Halloween costume , the kids are back to school , and theleaves are just start to plow , put the fertiliser away .
4. Divide Large Plants
If you did n’t do your division job in the saltation , now is the time to split up your hostas .
Before you break out the shovel , piss the plants well if you ’ve had a dry fall . You desire the soil to be damp and gentle to work .
It ’s easier to divide them if you do it while some of the farewell are intact , but you’re able to do it even after the leaves have died back .
If you are n’t familiar with the cognitive process ofdividing a hosta , read our template , which will walk you through the entire process from start to finish .
5. Protect Containers
The comfortable way of life toprotect your container from crack up and your hostas from freeze - thaw cyclesis to bury them in the soil , even if you only partially inter them .
If you ca n’t or do n’t need to do this , you may move them against a wall or wrap them in gunny . You could also cover them in pine bough .
Avoid target them somewhere they ’ll collect rainwater or snowmelt off of a roof or other complex body part .
The point here is n’t to avoid the frigidity , so do n’t take the potbelly into a garage or shed . Just protect them from replicate freeze and warming .
The exception to this is if you ’re growing a hosta that is on the border of hardiness for your region .
If you live in USDA Hardiness Zone 5 and you are turn a cultivar that ’s hardy to Zone 5 in a heap , you should treat it as if it ’s growing in Zone 4 and tuck it into a garage or shed to provide some protection from the coldness . Always subtract one Zone for container .
6. Mark Your Plants
I watch this one the hard way . Several times . If you do any early spring planting , you do n’t want to go grok into the root of subsist hosta industrial plant that have n’t pop up yet .
Do n’t cover the area where the leaves will emerge , but use a stick , telegram , or something else that you have on hand to take down where the plant are while you ’re cutting back the foliage .
I ’ll sometimes sting a love apple John Cage upside down in the land to mark off a spot if I ’m sure I ’ll be digging around there and the plant is n’t in a patch that ’s visible from my house .
Tomato cages are n’t precisely pretty , but they ’re sturdy and large enough to forbid any major mishaps .
find innocent to skip this step if you know exactly where your flora are or if you do n’t have any leap dig up plans .
The Right Winter Care Makes for Happy Hostas
Hostas do n’t ask for much . They give us reliable people of colour without demand much of our prison term or try . But a little care aright before the winter sets in goes a long way .
Just think of it as an investment in your industrial plant ’ time to come . You ’re protect them from potential pests , disease , and damage . And all it takes is a little time and maybe some mulch .
One of the thing that I love most about gardening is that there ’s always something young to learn !
If you ’re concerned in moretips on how to make your hostas glad , check these guides out next :
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About
Kristine Lofgren
