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Creating a Hosta Garden

I love hosta!  I love it’s form, it’s color, and the huge number of varieties available in the market.  Whenever i’m at a nursery I have to take a look in the hosta section – I’m always looking for unusual new varieties.

Any gardener knows that you have to be a careful shopper – you don’t want to end up with too many individual plants that don’t work together.  But with hosta, one exciting option is to designate a shady part of your property as a hosta garden.  Because all hosta have similar leaves and form, a hosta garden plays up the contrast in their size, shape, and color.  Read on for some tips to create a hosta garden of your own.

1.  Unfortunately my first piece of advice is that if you have deer you most likely can’t have hosta.  While some of our clients protect their hosta by diligently spraying deer off, most find that hosta and deer simply don’t mix.

2.  For a hosta garden you need a spot with cool shade – evergreen or deciduous tree shade works equally well as you only need to shade the hostas during the hot summer months.

3.  Hostas grow best in moist areas.  While you may see hosta surviving in a dry spot the most attractive lush looking plants are getting lots of water.

4.  Select hostas in a variety of colors, and color combinations.  Leaves of green and white, white and blue, blue and yellow, and yellow and green are widely available, as are solid colored plants.

5.  Place hostas within the garden to highlight their form and size.  Hostas range in size from the massive ‘Blue Angel’ to the miniature ‘Blue Mouse Ears’.  Place each where it will have enough room to reach maturity and won’t be covered by it’s neighbors.

6.  Finally, consider companion plants – the fine texture of ferns can add an interesting contrast to a hosta garden, or underplant with daffodil bulbs in an area with deciduous shade.  The bulbs will thrive in the full sun of winter and have their yellowing foliage covered by the emergence of hosta in the summer shade.

Interested in adding a hosta garden to your property?  Contact Bright Leaf Landscaping at 919-475-1015 or fill out our online contact form at https://www.brightleaflandscaping.com/contact-us/.  Design and installation are our expertise, and we are always happy to meet with new clients to discuss potential projects!