One of the great things about hostas is how low-maintenance they are. Of all the perennials in your garden, hostas are probably the closest thing you’ll find to a set-it-and-forget-it plant. That’s why everyone grows them.
Hostas look good in many different landscapes. You can grow them in most hardiness zones. They can handle even the coldest winters and need little to no attention to do well. What’s not to love?
Unfortunately, their easy care label often means folks don’t bother with general care and maintenance. After all, hostas will keep plugging away without it.
However, spending fifteen minutes of your time this fall can be the difference between a plant that goes unnoticed in the background of your landscape to friends and neighbors asking, “Wow! What do you do to your hostas? They look great.”
If you notice your hostas have stopped blooming, then this list of basic maintenance should set them right for the next season.
Thankfully, in keeping with their low-maintenance reputation, the extra care they need to go from ‘meh’ to ‘wow’ is minimal. While you’re out puttering around in your flower beds this fall, take a few minutes to do the following:
1. Divide & Fertilize
Hostas aren’t exactly known for going crazy and taking over a garden. But after a few years, they will start to spread. To keep hostas looking their best and prevent them from creeping where you might not want them, you’ll need to divide them every few years.
Dividing your hostas is also important where blooms are concerned. If you’ve noticed that your hostas have stopped blooming or are only putting out a bloom here and there, it’s likely the problem is they’re too crowded. Most blooming perennials, hostas included, prefer to be pleasantly snug but not root-bound if they are to produce flowers.
Fall is the best time to divide hostas. (At least, in my opinion.)
Sure, most perennials can also be divided in spring, but I prefer to do it in early fall. When you divide perennials in the spring, the new plants spend the entire season looking a little sparse. It takes them a while to fill in and catch up to their more established counterparts.
By waiting and dividing your plants in the fall, the growing and flowering season is done. At this point, those newly divided plants don’t need to spend extra energy trying to bloom as well as put down roots and fill in foliage. Instead, energy is conserved for next year, and deep roots are put down to protect themselves from harsh weather, which is what you want for a new plant.
Dividing hostas is easy-peasy.
Carefully lift the entire plant out of the ground with a spading fork, working around the perimeter of the clump before finally lifting under the center. Now, you can easily cut or pull apart the hosta, replanting any portions you want to keep. The rest can be planted elsewhere, composted or given away.
Share & Share Alike
By the way, one of my favorite things to do with extra divided perennials is to put them in a 5-gallon bucket with a bit of water. I put the bucket by the mailbox or on the porch and then list them on Craigslist and my local free stuff Facebook page, noting what they are, that they’re free for curbside or porch pick up and to please leave the bucket. They always disappear within a day or two. It’s how I’ve collected numerous perennials to plant in my garden, too.
When dividing hostas, it’s a good idea to add a balanced slow-release fertilizer to the soil when you replant them. This will give them the added boost they need to put down a strong root system.
If you need to divide your hostas, don’t wait too late. You need to do it before the plant’s leaves begin to yellow. The plant will need several weeks to get established and ready for dormancy before the first frost. Plan accordingly and aim for early fall.
2. Clean Up & Cut Back
Cut back the stalks of blooms as they fade so the plant can focus on taking in energy via the foliage. Like nearly all perennials, they use their leaves to capture sunlight and convert it into energy, which is stored in the plant’s rhizomes for next spring.
Ensuring your hostas have as much energy as possible this year means larger plants and more blooms next year.
With that in mind, it’s important to wait until the leaves have turned yellow before cutting them back. Following its natural growing cycle, this usually happens just before the first frost. You can either compost the leaves or lightly chop them up and sprinkle them at the base of the plant. Doing so allows the spent leaves to break down quickly, returning nutrients to the soil for the plant to use again.
Alternatively, you can let the leaves rot in place, but you’re left with a mess in the spring to clean up.
You also run the risk of harboring pests in the dead foliage. With fall comes fall weather, and that usually means cool and rainy. The perfect weather for slugs! Evict slugs and other pests from your Hosta Hotel by cutting them back at the end of the season.
3. Mulch & Protect
Finally, you’ll want to mulch your hostas. Wait until after you’ve divided them and cut them back for the season. Put down a two-to-three-inch layer of mulch, such as leaves or straw, around the base of the plant. If you have very harsh winters, you may even want to cover the cut-back plant with a protective layer.
Covering and mulching newly divided hostas is especially important as it will give them added protection during that first winter when they may still be susceptible to cold damage.
To recap, you’re going to divide and fertilize newly planted hostas, clean them up, cut them back and protect them with mulch. For a small amount of effort, your award will be hostas that are anything but boring the following year.
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