Essential Tips for Hosta Winter Care... You Need to Know
- John Plant
- Jan 9
- 4 min read
During the course of the Winter and well into Spring, you will get a range of weather conditions from mild sunny days to heavy frost or even a covering of snow.
You may not be able to do anything, when everything is frozen solid, but there will be times when you can get outside, even though you don’t fancy it, and do a little winter maintenance. Take the opportunity while you can. Getting outside is good for you, and better than sitting with your feet up, watching television all day long.
Get out there, even if it’s only for a short while. Wrap yourself up well, and get to it.
A lot of ‘Winter maintenance’ can be done in preparation for winter.
I suggest that you read our previous blogs about Winter Care which may reiterate some of this information.
This year we have already ‘top-dressed’ our display and sales pots, with a little compost to cover any roots or simply to top up the pots. This will help when we do get any frosts. Never do this when there is any frost about. Covering a frozen pot, is not a good idea, as the frost will not thaw a per normal. If frozen, leave until completely thawed before top-dressing.
As a supplier of Hostas, one of my favourite jobs is to order my new varieties. This is usually done in November, before any really bad consistent weather. This gives us time to pot up and arrange alphabetically in the nursery. This year we have over 100 new varieties to consider.
As a customer, you might want to see what is available and add them to your collection before they sell out.
Once all our new Hostas have been added to the benches, we take the opportunity to do a full stock-check. We not only do those for sale but also check the stock plants including those planted. You could also do a mini-stock check on your collection.
Customers with a Hosta collection of some 300 or more, this may take a little longer, but worth knowing which ones you have, and those that are not doing so well.
Another job that can be done at this time of year, but not when the pots are frozen, is to ensure that every pot is properly labelled, so you know which one is which.
As a Hosta collector, do you know what you have and where it is? Why not ensure that ALL your labels are readable, present & correct. It’s always good to keep a record of what you have, and the labels are an important part of that. Remember, labels become brittle and easily break They don’t last forever. Do you have anything written down? The most questions we get asked are about Hosta Identification due to illegible or missing labels so why not use these winter months to have a relabelling session?
The Hosta planted in your borders will generally look after themselves, and they will come back up in the Spring, with very little care. You can help them through the winter by top-dressing. You can use most organic materials such as leaf mould, bark, spent compost (don’t throw it away when you are finished with the pots).
Cover the crown with an inch or so of spent compost (not mulch), especially where the roots are on the surface. At this time of year, do not use any fertiliser, or fresh potting compost containing fertiliser. Don’t do this when it is frosty.
Back to your potted Hostas now. If they are standing on a hard surface such as paving or tarmac, they should be lifted from the surface using feet. These feet can be of almost any material. You can buy proper clay feet, but if you have a lot of pots, this can be very expensive. Try a cheaper, even free option, such as bottle tops or even thicker slate.
Lifting the pots, particularly clay pots, will reduce frost cracking of the pot, and will enhance drainage, even Hostas don’t like being waterlogged. It can get very wet over the winter months.
In general, you don’t usually need to move any of the Hostas into a frost-free area, other than possibly newly potted and miniature Hostas. These may benefit from a little protection, at least, until they are well established. Underneath the shelter of some shrubs etc, will suffice. They do not need to be ‘frost free’. Do not water! The UK weather will be more than enough for them.
Our Yorkshire Hostas are hardy, as they are all grown outdoors all year round, and we often have plenty of snow & frost! They will all be fine until the spring, when the seasons cycle starts again.
This period of cold weather is important to Hostas, as they require a particular amount of cold temperatures for them to break dormancy this is called vernalisation each cultivar has its own requirement regarding the length of vernalisation it needs prior to spring emergence.
Finally, keep everything clean. Don’t leave any debris in the garden for slugs & snails to overwinter in. Make sure you leave enough for our rare hedgehogs to use for overwintering. Better still, build them a proper home.
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John Plant
Rewela Hostas
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