I love hostas because they are low maintenance. However, by August they start looking tattered and full of holes eaten away by bugs. Well, I have found a solution that will keep your hostas looking like they are in their prime all the way into the fall.
On the 4th of July, give or take a few days, when your hostas are looking full and green and healthy and beautiful, cut them down leaving only about an inch of their stalks from the dirt.YES, you heard me correctly. And YES, as you are cutting them down you will mumble under your breath that this is THE dumbest thing you have ever done because they look so full and green and healthy and beautiful and why would any crazy woman cut them down. I say it every year and yet I still know the outcome.
Trust me.
In a few weeks, or less, they will come back bigger, more beautiful, greener and healthier and they will look that way deep into the fall. A friend who is an avid gardener gave me this tip about 10 years ago and it hasn't failed me yet. I'm not sure why the 4th of July is the key date, but one year I did wait until the end of July to cut them and it took them much longer for them to come back... although they did come back. They always do. But I try to do it as close to the 4th as possible.
Want to know how to keep your hostas looking great? Cut them down on the 4th of July. And that's what works for me. Visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for over 100 more tips and ideas for making life easier.
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8 comments:
Maybe I'll plant a hosta just to try this trick! :) I will tell my hosta plant friends..blessings.
Oh, I think I'm too afraid to try that! I love how big a beautiful my hosta is. But I just might try it out
Good to know. Mine suffer in our hot southern summers and they usually die back, so maybe this will help.
Our weather is cooler, so the hostas look good right up until they go dormant in the fall... and bugs are not a problem especially now that I have used a natural (no poison) slug bait on them for several years. I LOVE my hostas... I have posted pictures of several of mine, if anyone would like to see them.
I love hostas - i'll have to get some & try this. It gets hot here so this makes complete sense.
I don't have any hostas, but when I plant some, I will do this! Thanks a bunch for the tip!
I am very literally sitting at my computer, looking out the window at my hostas, silently wishing them a farewell. Seeing the 4th of July is so close I will have to mentally prepare to try this. However, we go on vacation for 3 weeks over the 4th.. would the week before be ok?
We used to have a problem with slugs eating our hostas. Believe it or not, the solution to our problem was beer. We set a shallow pan of beer near the hosta plants in the early evening. By morning, the pan is full of drunk dead slugs. It's a bit nasty to clean up but an effective way to rid the area of hosta killing slugs.
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