Hostas fill the flower garden with greenery, and the varied colors of their leaves attract attention and emphasize the beauty of rock gardens. Like any other plant, hosta requires attention, including autumn work care
Autumn care for hosta
Basically, caring for hostas in the fall consists of replanting them, pruning them, and preparing them for winter. In the fall, the bushes are not fed, the last application of fertilizers is carried out no later than mid-August, and hosta bushes can be mulched with organic matter from the second ten days of October.
Hosta transplant
Many hosta varieties grow greatly over the summer, so they are divided in the fall. The best time Autumn is the time for replanting, since in the spring the young bushes will actively begin to grow.
For hostas, choose a sunny place in the flower garden. Next, the whole hosta bush dug out needs to be prepared for planting. The soil is removed from the roots and small roots with sprouts or buds are found on the large root. That's what it is planting material, which is cut off from the root, and the cut site is sprinkled with activated carbon or treated with potassium permanganate. Young shoots should not show signs of damage or disease. Some hosta varieties use rosettes to propagate.
The planting hole should correspond to the size of the hosta root system. The hole is spilled generously with water, then a mound of soil is poured in the center, and a handful of potassium-phosphorus fertilizer is scattered around. The hosta is placed on a mound, the roots are straightened and sprinkled with soil. The plantings are watered with water and mulched to protect the young bush from frost.
Hosta pruning
With the onset of autumn, the leaves of the hosta wither, and the question arises of whether to cut them off or leave them as they are? Basically, flower growers cut off the ground part of the hosta before winter. Thanks to this measure, snails and slugs are removed from the bases of leaf shoots, but hosta pruning must be done in a timely manner, without waiting for the foliage to become soft and slippery. With the onset of cold weather, the pests will go deep into the soil, and it will no longer be possible to get rid of them. After harvesting the withered foliage of the hosta, you need to loosen the soil, thereby removing the slug eggs. Frosts will kill these pests. For preventive planting purposes, the host is sprinkled with Metaldehyde granules, which destroy other pests.
Hosta foliage is trimmed when it turns yellow and falls to the ground. This happens with the arrival of the first frost. The process of photosynthesis in the plant stops and renewal buds have already formed underground in the hosta. The foliage is cut short at ground level, trying not to damage the dormant buds of the plant, which lie directly at the surface of the ground.
Preparing hosta for winter
The mistake of many gardeners is that they cover the hosta with its own foliage. On the one hand on next year she becomes organic fertilizer and mulch, but pests also survive. It is best to cover the plantings with sparse spruce branches, and when snow falls, throw it on top.
Autumn work with hosta will not take much time, but will allow you to keep the bushes of ornamental greenery healthy.
Many gardeners are confident that hostas do not require any preparation for winter. The same statement can be found in some specialized literature addressed to amateur gardeners: just leave them in the flowerbed where they grew; Just don’t fertilize after the beginning of August.
These recommendations for growing hostas are the easiest to follow. Somewhere in the southern regions this is probably how it should be. Hosta is a fairly unpretentious plant. But in middle lane, and even more so in the zone of risky farming, such an attitude towards this plant can lead to very sad consequences. Overwintered rhizomes sometimes die in the spring, during frosts, when the snow has almost melted. And the first, still tender leaves are mercilessly eaten by snails awakening from hibernation, which have nestled comfortably in the soil under the plants since the fall.
To prevent all this from happening, and for the hostas to emerge from the ground in the spring strong and healthy, you need to take very little care of them at the end of the season.
First of all, after flowering has finished, you need to trim the stem where the flower was located. Then the plant will not need to expend energy to form seeds.
Then you need to take the time to use any bulk organic material under the hostas: peat, mown grass, rotten grass. In the spring, such mulch will also serve as an additional organic fertilizer. This should be done before the leaves fall. It is very useful to sprinkle the mulch with phytosporin and mix a little tobacco dust into it - slugs and snails are afraid of it. This will save the plants from spring attacks by voracious pests that overwinter in the soil and plant debris.
When the leaves begin to die, you should not remove them - autumn pruning greatly weakens the hosts. Some must go into winter, covered with their own leaves. And if you add to this spruce branches, cut from old spruce or pine trees, then beautiful flowerbed no cold weather will be scary, which is especially important when the winter has little snow, with frequent thaws and large temperature changes.
Hosts do not need to build any special shelters. It is enough to simply cover the soil in those places where their roots overwinter. If there is no spruce branches, or for some reason its use is undesirable, an old non-woven covering material, such as lutrasil, will also do. You just need to secure it so it doesn’t blow away in the wind. What you should not do is use plastic film or roofing felt for covering. Such materials do not allow not only heat to pass through, but also air. In addition, voles, rats and other unwanted “tenants” of garden plots love to make their nests under them for the winter.
Annual preparation for winter and autumn care for hosts does not require large material, labor or time costs from the gardener. But for the attention shown, they will more than thank you with friendly shoots, their healthy appearance and beautiful flowers.
It is believed that hosta is one of those cultivated plants, which does not require the care of flower growers. And this flower grows throughout the season, requiring neither watering nor pest or disease control. Also, this plant does not require the intervention of gardeners when preparing the plant for winter. Perhaps such statements are true of the hosta growing in the southern regions. But here in the center of our country, without special care in the fall, this beautiful flower will wither or simply die.
Hosta is one of those cultivated plants that does not require the care of gardeners.
In this article we will talk about what agrotechnical measures for caring for and replanting hostas are carried out in autumn period.
Preparing hostas for winter involves correct pruning and sheltering the plant during the cold season. You should also feed flowering perennial after flowering ends.
Typically, activities to prepare a flower in a flowerbed for winter period begin in the summer, when it fades. It is necessary to take a closer look at the main stages of preparation for the coming cold, and also remind gardeners what not to do when caring for it during the fall.
The dying foliage of the hosta in the fall will provide additional cover for the root system.
Hosta pruning technology in autumn
Pruning a hosta in the fall is an easy task, since at this time only the peduncle of this flower, on which there are no flowers, should be trimmed. Many people say so experienced flower growers, they also claim that in autumn the foliage of this flowering plant It is impossible to prune, as this action weakens the perennial and makes it less resistant to the upcoming cold weather. A dying foliage in the fall will provide additional cover for the root system. In the spring, when new leaves appear, you can remove old dead foliage.
But here a new problem awaits flower growers: the main pests of this perennial - snails and slugs - usually overwinter in the old foliage. In the spring, they “wake up” from hibernation and begin to actively eat the foliage of these flowers. As a result, gardeners have to pick out these pests manually or look for other ways to combat them. But no fewer gardeners, in addition to flower stalks, also remove all withered foliage, and do this precisely in the autumn. But specific deadlines there is no pruning. Usually they wait until the foliage turns completely yellow and only then remove it. But at the same time, at least 14–20 days should remain until the first cold weather. Removing and immediately burning the leaves is a preventive measure to prevent numerous pests from overwintering among the foliage of this perennial.
It is difficult for a novice gardener to catch the moment of autumn pruning of the hosta, so in this case it is better not to touch its leaves until spring. And it is better for more experienced gardeners to prune plants in the fall.
If in the garden this perennial grows in different angles, then you can try both options and choose the best one for yourself.
How to prepare a hosta for winter (video)
What you need to know about transplanting hostas in the fall
This perennial can be propagated both by seeds and by dividing the bush. But the first method is quite labor-intensive, since you have to first grow seedlings, and only then plant the grown seedlings in a previously prepared place.
Therefore, they usually choose a simpler method - dividing the bush. Hosta grows strongly over time and begins to interfere normal growth and the flowering of other plants in the flowerbed. Therefore, it is transplanted, while dividing it into parts. This herbaceous perennial does not tolerate this procedure well: it does not take root well after transplantation, takes a long time to recover, and also becomes unattractive for a long time. That's why a new landing site is chosen carefully, in order to subject the flower to such a procedure as little as possible. Hostas that have reached the age of 5–6 years are usually transplanted and divided. Large roots are carefully cut with a hacksaw and then broken with your hands. After dividing (but before planting in the soil), all foliage should be cut off, leaving only stems about 10 cm high.
Hosta is propagated by dividing the bush.
When is the best time to replant this flowering perennial? Most often this is done in spring period when young shoots appear. This procedure can be carried out throughout the season, but it is better not to touch the still blooming specimens. Beginners are interested in the following question: is it possible to transplant in the autumn? Yes, you can, but you should remember that at least 30–40 days must pass from the moment the flower is transplanted to a new place until the onset of cold weather. During this period, the perennial will have time to adapt to the new place and will be able to overwinter well. The time for such an agrotechnical event is different regions selected based on local climatic conditions(usually from the first to the last ten days of September).
Important! There are varieties of hosta that, in the spring, root system does not grow (Tokudama, Siebold, as well as hybrids created on the basis of these species), so they are transplanted or planted only in the autumn.
The hosta planting site must be chosen in advance.
The place for planting this perennial must be chosen in advance; it should be in light partial shade, and the soil itself should be light, fertile, loose with neutral acidity. If the soil on the site is heavy, then you should first add humus, peat, river sand or rotted sawdust. In addition, there should be no stagnation of moisture in the soil, and groundwater should not approach the soil surface closer than 0.6 - 0.8 m.
Before planting, 15-20 liters of water are poured into the prepared holes. Then the plant is placed in the hole, all the roots are carefully straightened and covered with a nutrient substrate on top. The depth of each hole is about 0.4 m; a layer of drainage material 5 cm thick is laid on the bottom. The holes need to be filled in so that there are no voids between the roots.
Between the bushes of this perennial it is necessary to make the following distance:
- between large ones – 0.8-1.0 m;
- between averages – 0.5 m;
- between dwarf ones - 0.2 m.
After planting, all bushes should be watered abundantly, and tree trunk circles mulch with humus or high peat. The root collar should not be buried in the soil, otherwise it will begin to rot.
Hosta propagation (video)
Feeding hostas in the fall
Typically, these flowering perennials are no longer fertilized in the fall - the plant absorbs the nutrients that were added to the soil after flowering.
This flowering perennial finishes blooming in mid-July to early August. During this period, you need to use fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium. This feeding will allow the flowers to recover from active flowering and prepare for the harsh winter.
For hostas you need to use fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium
Hosta shelter for the winter
Before winter, a layer of peat or humus 15–17 cm thick is added under each plant. This mulch will be a kind of blanket that protects the root system of the hosta from severe frosts. If the foliage of this flower is not cut off in the fall, it will also provide additional cover for the roots. And on top, dry leaves or spruce branches are used as cover. But usually this plant survives winter frosts well.
Features of hosta care (video)
We can conclude that in the autumn, caring for this perennial comes down to watering and covering before winter cold. expose the plant autumn pruning or not – it’s up to the flower growers to decide. It must be remembered that only a few varieties of hosta are replanted only in the autumn, and the rest can be left until spring.
Hosta produces beautiful greenery; against the background of this plant, other flowers open up before the eyes with a new look. It tolerates shade, which is why it becomes an indispensable plant for many summer residents and gardeners. Decorates flower beds and looks great at the foot of a fern.
Even though hosta refers to unpretentious plants it is still necessary to prepare it for winter, especially if it is grown in medium or more northern regions. Winters here are very harsh for plants.
Hostas begin preparing for winter in the fall. Cut off the stems that had flowers on them so that the plant does not begin to set seeds. We don't cut anything else. We carry out mulching.
Hostas use peat, thin tree branches (brushwood), and sawdust as shelter for the winter. This material will not only become mulch, but also an organic fertilizer for the soil and plants in the spring. Choose a dry frosty day for this work so that the soil is dry. We dig in the hosta, raking soil towards the plant from all sides, and laying out mulch, especially around the cut stem. We treat it with Fitosporin and scatter tobacco dust so that in the spring, when the first succulent leaves begin to appear, the snails cannot even come close to your beauty ().
Leaves should not be touched; they should remain on the plant. If you cut them off, the root system will begin the restoration process, thereby weakening and, before it has time to complete it, die from severe frosts. So let the leaves in a natural way dry out and become an additional natural mulch material.
Then we cover it with lutrasil or spunbond, and press the edges with boards or stones so that the non-woven material is not blown away by the wind.
Preparing the hosta for winter is not difficult and will not take much time, but the plant will survive the winter without stress and will reward you with beautiful greenery in the spring.
A simple algorithm for preparing hostas for winter: cut the stem, mulch until the leaves fall, and when the shoots and leaves fall, cover the top with non-woven material and press the edges. All!
In preparing hostas for winter:
- do not remove leaves from plants even after they are completely dry;
- do not apply any fertilizers, so as not to provoke disturbances in the plants, let them calmly go into the dormant period;
- cannot be covered with roofing felt or polyethylene, this will lead to damping off of the roots and will attract rats and mice to winter;
- cannot be replanted, the root system will be weak and will not have time to take root well before frost.
With the onset of autumn, the gardener has more work - he needs to have time to prepare the plants in the flower beds, which have been pleasing all summer, for winter. Including the queen of shade - hosta or funkia, the new varieties of which are good not only for their varied decorative foliage, but also for their flowers. And most importantly, in autumn care, decide whether the hosta needs to be pruned for the winter. Unanimous opinion for this issue no, gardeners advise different variants. Some believe that hosta does not require special preparation for the winter period, others have a different opinion. For each plot and gardener, the decision can be individually correct, after studying your garden plot.
Reasons for pruning
Already at the end of summer in some gardens you can notice flower beds becoming empty due to pruning. And the hosta is wonderful ornamental plant, is one of the plants that can be pruned. Flower growers who are inclined to trim funkia take into account the following opinions:
- The main pests of the hosta, slugs, can overwinter in the remains of the foliage. Slugs - attack hosta leaves. They are easy to spot by traces of dried mucus and small holes on the leaves. In early spring they start to have hosta sprouts. In addition, slugs can carry diseases;
- On damp areas large hosta bushes may suffer from moisture in the remains of the plant leaves left over from the fall, which means damaging the buds and appearance of the bush;
- Also, pests such as nematodes can be found in the foliage.
If you have a lot of slugs or high level water, then it is better to remove the leaves. You need to prune the hosta for the winter after all the leaves turn yellow, but before the first frost, leaving only a couple of cm of the stem.
If you cut the hosta very low, it can lead to the formation of root collar rot.
If such plants are found on the site in the spring, then it is necessary:
- Dig up infected plants;
- Remove unusable parts of roots;
- Dip the roots into a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- Replant to a new location.
If such measures are applied frequently, the plant will grow weaker in the buds of the bush, which is especially important for sandy soils, where reproduction is already significantly lower than on other soils. Therefore, when transplanting an affected hosta, in addition to pruning, you should drain the root system at the planting site.
Funkia bushes can grow in one place for up to 20 years, but they should not be replanted or divided after planting for the first 3 years.
Reasons against pruning
There are also plenty of reasons against pruning hostas. Among them are:
- Weakening the root system by pruning the bush before winter;
- Infection of various bushes with viruses;
- The leaves serve as mulch - additional cover.
The main danger of pruning hostas before wintering is the incorrectly chosen period for pruning. If you prune the hosta ahead of time, before the plant goes dormant, the bush can begin to regenerate leaves, using the forces necessary for its overwintering.
It is important that the hosta is planted correctly for its variety in terms of shade and sun. If the hosta burns in the sun, it will also produce new leaves, as with early pruning, which means it will waste the energy necessary for wintering.
The second reason for pruning is the HVX virus. It may be invisible to a young gardener and in order not to infect the bushes, after pruning each plant it is necessary to process the tool, which when large quantities plant bushes are inconvenient. However, bushes that are in doubt are not allowed to bloom and the flower stalks are cut off before flowering begins.
Medium trim
If you are still not confident in your abilities, it is best to cut off only the flower stalks, because... It is difficult to do this in the spring without damaging the buds of the bush. In addition, seeds are formed on the peduncles, on which the plant also spends the energy of the bush.
But removing leaves in the spring is much easier than in the fall, because the hosta sprouts later than many others. garden plants and at the time of spring cleaning, its buds are not available. Therefore, you should not worry ahead of time if other flowers are already growing, and something is already blooming, but the hostas are not there yet.
Florists noticed that the more decorative variety, the later it rises. Moreover, there are often cases when hostas growing in the shade germinate faster than those in the sun.
Other preparation of hosta for winter
Caring for hosta for the winter is not difficult and does not require a lot of time and effort, but if for residents of the southern regions wintering does not cause any special problems, then flower growers in the middle zone need to do a few more procedures for wintering:
- If you try to feed the plants in your garden all season long to get maximum beauty and flowering from them, then the last feeding should be done in early August potassium-phosphorus fertilizers. They will help the hosta to “ripen” by the beginning of cold weather;
- In the middle zone and northern regions, the hosta is mulched by covering the base of the bush with sawdust, leaf humus or peat;
- In regions with little snow cover and strong winds, the bushes are additionally covered spruce branches. Such a shelter retains snow, including during thaws, and allows you to survive the most severe frosts;
- Funkia bushes are treated with “phytosporin” against fungal diseases;
- And also the bushes are treated with tobacco dust, sprinkling it on the plant or adding it to the mulch composition, thus preventing slugs.
But it is better to refrain from covering with materials such as film and roofing felt. Such materials do not let in not only cold, but also air. In addition, mice, rats and other garden pests love to make their nests under them for the winter.
Preparation for winter and autumn care are the key beautiful view leaves of the funkia bush, a healthy root system of the plant and beautiful flowers.