Dry Summer .... Taking Its Toll On Your Hostas?

Firstly, we wish everybody a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend. This is the opportunity to do all those things you just don’t have time for in a normal 2-day weekend. You’ve now got 3 days. Make the best of it. It’s the last one this year.

What a year it’s been! It’s not only the hottest year for many years it’s also been the driest for many years. It’s lovely for those who can just enjoy the weather, and lack of rain, visiting the seaside or just having the deck chair in the back garden.

Some good news can still be gained from this extreme weather! You may have noticed that there is a definite reduction in the damage done by slugs and snails. They don’t like the hot weather any more than your Hostas do.

However, what about those thousands of Hostaholics, who are worried about their Hostas during this weather and what they should and shouldn’t do!

The spring started early this year and soon got warm and stayed that way. We didn’t get the usual ‘April Showers’ to help us along. We didn’t get much of a cool spell, or very much rain.

The hot weather carried on throughout the summer and now we are towards the end of August and it’s still dry.

So, how have your Hostas faired with these conditions?

In general, your Hostas will have to have been watered much more often than in a ‘normal’ year of British weather. The lack of rain means the soil is desperately short of moisture and this affects the Hostas. As with our garden, the Hostas are starting to show signs of an early demise into the autumn & winter, well in advance of a normal year.

Here in Yorkshire, we are under the rules of a ‘hosepipe’ ban, so very little watering, other than watering cans, and with this there is a limit to what you can achieve. Our Hostas are really suffering especially those planted in borders. The containerised ones at least get watered once a week with a watering can from a butt. However, the lack of rain also means empty water butts! Less watering than would be desired.

We have had quite a few customers concerned about the dry soil and want to know if they should continue watering. That depends on how wet your soil is? Where there has been plenty of rain, such as the west coast of Scotland, you may have a decent level of moisture in the soil, so won’t need watering.

However, the lack of rain has left the soil very, very dry. Watering should help, but the best form of replenishing the soil is rain, and plenty of it. The rain needs to be over a lengthy period as the first decent shower will wet the very top of the soil, but only to about 1cm deep. The soil below this is still bone dry. The roots of the Hostas are much deeper than this and needs to be addressed.

If you are able to, watering could be everyday whilst the soil stays like this. If the water just runs off the surface, stop watering let it soak in as much as possible, and come back to it later.

So how does this affect your Hostas?

Some varieties are better than others when faced with a lack of moisture. Some just don’t look too bad, other are already starting to lose their foliage. Other are in-between, showing signs of going over with some of their leaves starting with brown edges and curling up. A sign of the autumn, but many weeks earlier than expected. Don’t worry too much about this as they will always recovery in the spring. However, keep watering, especially those Hostas in pots.

If you take a Hosta out of its pot, you will see how dry it still is even thought the surface may look moist. This will give an indication of how deep the dry soil is in the garden, and how difficult it will be to get back to normal.

By watering the surface, only the surface will be hydrated. A little trick I find helps, especially when in pots, is to get a strong rod and poke holes in the compost to a depth of at least half the pot. This allows the water to get further into the pot. This will also works in the borders. Push several holes above the Hostas and this will allow water to run down the holes rather than just run over the surface.

Your Hostas will show curled up edges, brown sections and even scorched bits. Some varieties offer a pale colour as if the goodness has been sucked out of them. Some Hostas it is just one or two leaves that are showing the effects of stress. Some are showing no signs of stress at all. Each variety seems to be affected differently.

Always remove affected foliage and any spent flower spikes, as per normal, albeit several weeks early than usual.

This year, your Hostas started to grow sooner in the spring, endured a hot summer, flowered about a month earlier than expected and are now going into their winter dormancy early. Just look upon it as a shorter season than normal.

Whatever the look of your Hostas this year be prepared to have a much shorter season than normal.

The great news is that they will come up again in the Spring, as good as new. However, don’t neglect the care for your Hostas until they have lost all their foliage, keep on watering, dead heading & tidying up the foliage. Give the Hostas the best possible start to next year by looking after it now.

The weather forecast for the bank holiday weekend is set to be wet over a lot of the UK. This is not so good for those who just want to enjoy the sun, but is fantastic news for all gardeners, assuming they have it right?

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John Plant

Rewela Hostas

www.rewelahostas.com

rewelacottage@gmail.com