How to Grow, Plant and Care for Hostas

By Matt Gibson and Erin Marissa Russell

Hostas are shade loving, low growing, clump-forming perennial plants. Hostas are the most popular perennial plant in America, and it’s easy to understand why, as there are not a lot of shade loving plants to choose from, and hostas are also one of the easiest to grow, longest-lasting plants you can find. Hostas are also a very versatile plant that can fit in well in just about any type of garden setting, including patios, border, containers, and even rock gardens.

Hostas thrive in shade, but sunlight requirements vary greatly from cultivar to cultivar due to the color of the foliage. Varieties with darker foliage hold their true color best when ample shade is provided. Typically, the lighter the foliage color is, the more sunlight they can handle. Cultivars with variegated leaves need plenty of sunlight to retain their yellow or white stripes. All hostas need some shade, however, and the majority of cultivars will have a hard time growing in full sunlight. Hostas will fully mature in four to eight years.

Native to China, Japan, and Korea, hostas were brought to Europe in the 1700’s. Hostas are very easy to grow, and once they are established, they are incredibly hardy and known to live for decades, often outliving the person who plants them. Grown primarily as an ornamental plant for their beautiful foliage, hostas also produce beautiful flower clusters that range in color from white, to lavender, and pink.

Some gardeners clip off the flowers as they appear so that the plant will focus on aggressive leaf production. Others keep the blossoms on the plant to attract pollinators. Bees and Hummingbirds love hosta blooms. Known as urui in Japan, young, tender hosta leaves are edible and have a flavor similar to lettuce and asparagus. Urui is either boiled, tempura fried, or eaten raw.

Varieties of Hostas

There are 70 different species and over 3,000 registered varieties of Hostas available, so the choices are pretty overwhelming to gardeners that are looking to pick which plant they want to grow each season.

Cultivars vary widely in leaf shape, texture, leaf size, plant size, and leaf color, yet all of them look stunning, making it very tough to decide which one, two, or more varieties to plant in the soil in the next season. Once you start growing hostas, it can be kind of addicting. Many gardeners end up trying multiple hosta varieties.

Compiling a comprehensive list would be a daunting task and would do little to help readers select which hosta cultivar they should sow this year. Instead, we have narrowed down the list to the most impressive 43 varieties on the market, with a short description of each cultivar to help you figure out which one, or two, or more, are the best fit for your shady garden area.

Guacamole – Well-suited for containers and shade gardens, this cultivar grows in overlapping mounds with oval yellow-green leaves with gold tinges and streaks towards the center. Large, white, fragrant flowers appear in the summer.
Pathfinder – Thick, textured, white foliage with dark green edges. Grows 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide. Produces white purple flushed blossoms.
Sagae – Light, frosted, blue-green leaves with gold edges.Grows 20 inches tall and 54 inches wide and produces light purple flowers.
Silver Threads and Golden Needles – A compact miniature variety that reaches only six inches in height and eight inches in width, this cultivar has bright gold leaves that are streaked and splotched with green and silver. Perfect for front borders and containers. Flowers in mid-summer with light purple blooms.
Geisha – This cultivar forms an upright mound of glossy, yellow-green leaves with olive green margins. Star-shaped pale violet flowers emerge in late summer. Cut off flower stems after blooming to promote new growth.
Aureomarginata – This large showy variety reaches 27 inches high and 48 inches wide with 12 inch long (or longer) wavy, heart-shaped, dark green leaves with gold edges. Produces light purple flowers.
Tracy Emerald Cup – Highly susceptible to slug attacks, this cultivar reaches 14 inches tall and 24 inches wide with dark-green, curved bowl-shaped leaves and light purple blooms.
Touch of Class – Thick chartreuse-colored leaves with a wide, blue-green border, which turn blue-green with a gold border in the summer. Six inches tall and 24 inches wide. Produces light purple flowers. A mutation of the June cultivar.
Plantaginea – This heat tolerant plant is one of the best cultivars for growing in the southern US, or in warmer climates. The hosta plantaginea is known for its fragrant pure white flowers.
Patriot – Quickly becoming one of the more popular varieties due to its crisp, clean variegation. The dark green leaves are bordered with a white edge that seems to glow in the shade. Well-suited to landscapes, the Patriot cultivar produces light purple flowers and grows to 12 inches tall and 30 inches wide.
First Mate – Narrow cream-yellow leaves with blue-green margins emerge from this small hostas variety. Low maintenance cultivar with lavender flowers.
Pandora’s Box – This two inch high, five inch wide mini hosta variety sprouts narrow creamy white leaves with blue-green edges. Unfortunately, this pink blooming mini-hostas is susceptible to slug attacks.
Paradigm – A vigorous grower, the extra large Paradigm cultivar reaches 46 inches in height and 48 inches in width sporting golden leaves with blue-green edges. Unlike most hosta varieties, this cultivar actually brightens its color during sun exposure. A little extra sun brightens up the golden color in the center of its leaves. Produces purple flowers.
Wolverine – Long, narrow, blue-green leaves with gold edges sprout atop this 15 inch tall, 40 inch wide variety. Produces violet blossoms in late summer.
Royal Standard – Delightfully fragrant, waxy, white flowers emerge from lavender buds on this cultivar, making it a great selection for growing on patios or in beds or containers placed near living areas. Bright green dimpled leaves turn yellow-green when exposed to full sun.
Chartreuse Wiggles – Bright green-gold foliage with wavy edges and purple flowers grow on a six inch tall plant that expands to 12 inches in width. Susceptible to slug attacks.
June – This hosta variety forms a dense mound of large, irregularly-shaped, blue-green leaves with yellow-green centers. Produces lavender flowers in the late summer. Grows six inches tall and 11 inches wide. Susceptible to slug attacks. The june variety will survive in full or partial shade, but will burn in full sunlight.
Sun Power – 24 inches tall and 48 inches wide, the Sun Power variety produces yellow-green leaves below clusters of pale purple flowers. Sun tolerant and slug resistant, Sun Power thrives in morning sun and afternoon shade.
Krossa Regal – 36 inches tall and 60 inches wide, this large cultivar forms a vase-shaped frame that produces blue leaves that look like frosted glass and sprouts five-foot tall flower stalks with light purple flowers. Susceptible to slugs.
Daybreak – 22 inches tall and 36 inches wide, this variety is slug resistant and is sun tolerant. It features an extra large mound of bright golden, heavily-textured leaves that emerge chartreuse and grows brighter over the course of the season. Produced light purple flowers.
Autumn Frost – Blue-green leaves with bright yellow margins that mature to creamy white identify this cultivar. Lavender flowers sprout from short scapes. Ideal as a groundcover or container plant.
Blue Angel – One of the biggest hosta varieties, Blue Angel thrives in full to partial shade and is tolerant of dry soils. It features thick, heavily-textured, blue-green leaves and sprouts funnel-shaped lavender flowers in the summer. Will tolerate morning sun in cool climate areas.
Formal Attire – Growing 30 inches tall and wide upon maturity, the Formal Attire hosta produces pale purple blooms atop a large mound of foliage in early summer. It has dark, blue-green leaves with wide yellow margins that turn dark green with creamy-white margins as the plant matures. Susceptible to slugs.
Sum and Substance – 24 inches tall and 60 inches wide, this variety is very large. Its lime green leaves alone can grow to 2 feet tall. It’s especially attractive when its light purple flowers are in bloom. Slightly slug resistant.
Whirlwind – Producing trumpet-shaped light purple blooms from mid to late-summer, the Whirlwind hosta grows five inches tall and 40 inches wide. Known for its changing leaf color. Its pointed leaves start out creamy white with dark green edges which change to light green in midsummer and dark green by the end of the growing season. Susceptible to slugs.
Hyacinthine – The slightly puckered leaves of the Hyacinthine variety look blue-green but turn to grey-green as they mature and are framed by cream-colored edges. In mid to late-summer, the plant sprouts scapes that grow up to 30 inches high and sprout lavender flowers.
Blue Mouse Ears – Only five inches tall and 12 inches wide, this adorable mini-hosta features thick-textured, rounded grey-blue leaves. Slug resistant. Produces light purple flowers.
Aztec Treasure – This variety forms an eye-catching mound of dense, wrinkled, bright gold, heart shaped leaves and light purple flowers. Grows to 12 inches tall and 24 inches wide. Susceptible to slugs. Crowds out leaves.
Heavenly Tiara – This cultivar has light green leaves with creamy-gold edges that fade to white. Leaf margins begin yellow and progress to white over the course of the season. Produces purple flowers. Susceptible to slug attacks.
American Halo – This low maintenance, extra-hardy plant works well in beds or as a groundcover, and produces white flowers during the summer. American Halo has large blue-green leaves and creamy-white margins.
Golden Prayers – This small cultivar grows to 10 inches high and 16 inches wide, and has amazingly stunning color. It features slightly-cupped, deep golden leaves that shine in the shade. It produces light purple blooms that grow atop 18 inch stems during the summer. Susceptible to slugs.
Tokudama Flavocircinalis – Growing 17 inches tall and 48 inches wide, this cultivar features heart-shaped blue leaves with a pale green edge and an attractive corrugated texture. Sprouts white blooms in early summer.
Halcyon – One of the slowest growing cultivars, Halcyon takes years to reach full size. Its spear-shaped blue-green leaves will not change color as long as they are given adequate sun exposure and provided with partial shade. In late summer, lavender blossoms sprout atop mauve-gray scapes. Unlike any other hosta variety, the Halcyon hosta grows more slug resistant as its leaves mature.
Alligator Alley – This cultivar’s leathery, puckered, heart-shaped leaves have yellow-green centers that turn full yellow during the summer and blue-green margins, producing near white blooms atop scapes that grow up to 28 inches high. This versatile variety is well-suited to edges, borders, beds, patios, and containers
August Moon – Forming an asymmetrical mound of yellow-green leaves that turn bright yellow in full sunlight exposure, the August Moon hosta forms lavender white bell-shaped blooms in the summertime. Grows to a maximum of 32 inches in height.
Komodo Dragon – This giant hosta features large, cascading, deeply-veined, blueish-green leaves. In the summer, it produces funnel-shaped, pale-lavender blooms. Very susceptible to slugs and snails.
Crispula – This easy to grow curled-leaved hosta cultivar grows wavy dark green leaves with cream-colored markings. Excellent as a groundcover, the Crispula sprouts funnel-shaped pale lavender flowers in the early summer.
Deja Blu – Featuring big blue-green leaves with golden edges, separated by a narrow creamy-white band and purple flowers. Susceptible to slugs. Grows 14 inches tall and 20 inches wide.
Great Expectations – Grows chartreuse leaves with broad, soft, blue-green edging. The leaf centers turn yellow in summer, then white in the fall. Needs some direct sun to keep it’s bright colors. Susceptible to slugs. Produces pale, lilac flowers. Grows 22 inches tall and 40 inches wide.
Francis Williams – Stunning blue-green foliage with a chartreuse edging. Thick, puckered-textured leaves. Grows to 18 inches tall and 48 inches wide. Blooms in early to mid-summer with white funnel-shaped flowers.
Striptease – Growing 20 inches tall and 36 inches wide, the Striptease hosta variety produces a tri-color leaf pattern (green with a golden stripe down the middle with a thin white edge) and light purple flowers. Susceptible to slugs.
Whirlwind – With green leaves that change color throughout the season, the Whirlwind ‘s heart-shaped leaves are creamy white or lime with dark green margins. The centers change to dark green by late summer. From mid to late-summer, the Whirlwind hosta produces lavender, funnel-shaped blooms. Leaves remain upright as the plant grows.
Gracillima – The Gracillima is a dwarf hosta variety with lance-shaped, glossy, deep green leaves. In the late summer, purple striped lavender-blue flowers emerge. Requires protection from cold winds.
Elegans – 30 inches tall with a four foot spread, this variety features large blue-green, heart-shaped leaves with a corrugated texture.

Growing Conditions for Hostas

Hostas enjoy consistently moist, but not wet, well draining, humus-rich soil with a slightly acidic pH between 6.0 to 6.5. Once established however, hostas will thrive in practically any soil type, as long as it is well-draining. Select a location that receives light to full shade. Allow each plant plenty of room to expand into, as hostas quickly fill up the space that they are given.

Filtered sun is ideal for colorful varieties, especially the gold and blue cultivars, while green-leaved varieties are well-suited to lots of shade. Variegated varieties with lots of white in the leaves need plenty of shade protection during high temperature periods, as their leaves burn easily. Direct sun exposure will zap the blue out of blue-green varieties. Varieties with thick and waxy leaves are more drought tolerant.

How to Plant Hostas

Growing hostas from seed is not recommended. Instead, purchase dormant, bare-root divisions or potted hostas plants during the springtime and set the plants with the crown even with the soil level and growing tips visible at the surface of the soil. If you purchased hostas in containers, plant them into the soil at the same level of depth as they were in the pot. Once your hostas are in the ground, water the soil very slowly and carefully, only until the soil is lightly moistened.

Care for Hostas

After planting, or when new growth begins to emerge in the spring each year, apply a balanced, slow-release fertilizer. Keep the soil lightly moist, but never soggy, or wet. Mulch around the plants to improve water retention. Once your hostas plants start to bloom, you have a decision to make. You can either choose to remove the flower stalks after blooming to help encourage new leaf growth, or you can keep the blooms in order to attract pollinators [https://www.gardeningchannel.com/attract-pollinators-to-your-garden/], like honey bees and hummingbirds.

Remove brown leaves as they appear in the fall and keep the soil around the plants clean of weeds and debris to help minimize pest and disease issues. Transplanting and division should be done in early spring just as the first new leaves are starting to emerge.

How to Propagate Hostas

Hostas do not require division, even when they are in containers and appear to have outgrown their pots. If they run out of space, they simply stop growing as quickly. However, if you want a cleaner looking hosta plant, or if you want to give some of your hostas away as a gift, propagation by division is the only way to get the job done.

To divide your hostas plant, carefully dig up the root ball and split it into small clumps of roots and leaves. Dig a hole in the ground big enough for the root ball and place it down into the ground. Gently fill around it with dirt, lightly packing it in place as you go. Once the division is replanted, carefully water the newly planted divisions just enough to lightly moisten the soil. Hostas take to being divided and transplanted very well,

Companion Planting With Hostas

On the northern side of your property, underneath the shadow of a large tree or a group of large trees, pair hostas with shade perennials, ferns, and wildflowers. Hostas can be planted under flowering trees or used as accents on the shaded portion of a shrub border. Even in the darkest places on your property, as long as the soil is nutrient rich and moist.

In open expanses, pair with spring flowers like trout lilies, spring beauties, and toothworts. Hostas will help hide the spent blooms of the early bloomers. In the fall, replace the spring flowers with miniature daffodils, winter aconites, and snowdrops. For lush foliage-centered shade gardens, place hostas amidst sedges, ostrich and lady ferns, and flowers with long lasting post-bloom foliage, such as Siberian bugloss, wild gingers, and lungwort.

In cooler regions, hostas can accompany variegated Japanese silver grass, garden phlox, H.plantaginea, and other perennials in shaded borders. Medium-sized hostas cultivars can be used as groundcovers in front of flowering shrubs and under shade trees. Small-leaved hostas varieties are well-suited to rock gardens or containers.

Garden Pests and Diseases of Hostas

Hostas are renowned for their ease of care—it’s one of the major reasons they’re so commonly cultivated and given as gifts. However, even a plant as reliable and fuss-free as the hosta is bound to struggle with an insect infestation or a disease on occasion.

If you know which challenges you might encounter with your hostas, you can be vigilant against them by regularly giving your plant a once-over, keeping an eye out for signs of common problems for hostas. And when you’re familiar with the symptoms and treatments that go along with each plant disease or garden pest your hosta plant may fall prey to, you’ll be well equipped to stop these complications in their tracks and nurse your hosta plant back to health whenever possible. (If recovery isn’t possible for affected plants, at least you can prevent the issues from spreading to the rest of your garden.) Read on to learn about the garden pests and plant diseases that most commonly strike hostas.

Anthracnose: Anthracnose is a common fungal disease that can be identified by gray or pink spots that resemble boils, which can appear on nearly every part of an infected plant. The disease thrives in windy or wet conditions and is usually spread by wind or water. If your plants attract anthracnose early in their development, it could easily kill them. Prevent this fungal disease by purchasing seeds that are free of the disease and keep your garden beds free of debris by regularly cleaning them on a regular basis. If you notice the presence of anthracnose anywhere in your garden, immediately remove and destroy all affected plants before the disease has a chance to spread and affect any more of your plants Learn more about anthracnose and what you should do if it strikes your hosta plant (or any other part of your garden) in our Guide to Anthracnose Fungal Disease.

Deer: Get ideas that can help you deter deer from any of the plants you’re cultivating (that you don’t wish to share with the neighborhood wildlife) in our article Humane Ways to Keep Deer Out of Your Garden.

Foliar nematodes: The foliar nematode is a parasite much like the more commonly known root knot nematode, except instead of attacking the plant’s root system, foliar nematodes instead attack the buds and the insides of leaves. They use films of water to travel from the soil or stems of the plants they parasitize up to the leaves, usually making their first strike in the spring. Unless a host species of herbaceous perennial or invasive weed is present over the winter, most of the time foliar nematodes will not survive the cold season. As a general rule, woody plants are generally unscathed; instead, foliar nematodes tend to go after herbaceous perennials. Hostas are especially susceptible to problems with foliar nematodes.

You can spot a plant infected with foiar nematodes because it will develop necrosis in the foliage, causing blotches of dead tissue. There is no hallmark shape or pattern to these lesions. Instead, the form tends to vary from one parasitized species to another. However, you can identify foliar nematode damage because the necrosis will not cross the vein of a leaf. (The nematodes must exit the leaf and travel across the surface to cross a vein, instead of tunneling through the inside, as they do to create the lesions.) The exception to this rule is when a plant has especially thick leaves, as with begonias or cyclamen.

Ideally, a gardener should focus on preventing foliar nematode infestation rather than treating the problem once it has occurred. Most foliar nematodes are introduced to a new location via contaminated plants that are brought into the garden, so examine plants you are considering adding to your collection carefully for signs of foliar nematodes, and consider quarantining new plants for a while to ensure their health before adding them to the garden. (Here is a checklist to help you select healthy plants to bring home from the nursery or garden center.)

If you suspect foliar nematode damage to a hosta or another plant in your garden, your local agricultural extension office can help with testing to confirm your hypothesis. Unfortunately, infected plants must be destroyed to prevent the spread of the nematodes, as they are practically impossible to overcome once they are parasitizing a plant.

Phytophthora foliage blight: This blight is spread by a water mold called Phytophthora capsici, which is not a fungus (despite the common misconception) but instead an oomycete, a relative of specific types of algae. Affected plants display sizable brown lesions on their leaves with irregular edges, while on stems and the bit that connects leaves to stems, the markings can vary in hue from light to dark brown and appear water-soaked, though they retain the uneven shape. As the disease progresses, the initial foliage blight eventually turns into a type of root and crown rot, turning the plant tissue black at the crown and root while weakening infected foliage until the leaves begin to wilt, then eventually, the plant can collapse entirely. When the edible portions of food crop plants are affected, the fruit may be cloaked in a layer of white fungal growth that resembles powdered sugar. Infected fruits eventually develop water-soaked rot that affects their texture, causing them to go soft, become susceptible to puncture wounds, or even succumb completely and collapse in on themselves.

Phytophthora is spread via swimming spores (called zoospores) that move through overly soggy soil and other places where water film exists. That’s why often, the disease will spread along the path where water drains in the garden. Other conditions that tend to foster phytophthora include temperatures that range between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit and rainstorms that come along with substantial wind. If garden tools or equipment are used in infected soil and not cleaned and sterilized afterward, they can also play a role in helping the disease to travel. Depending on the variety of phytophthora you are dealing with, the oomycetes behind the disease can survive for up to two years or up to five years in your garden, hunkering down for the winter in infected soil or plant debris.

If you’re dealing with phytophthora in the garden, there are lots of things you can do to keep it at bay in the future. However, plants that have already contracted the disease must be pulled up and destroyed, as they cannot recover and will only spread phytophthora to their neighbors if you leave them where they are. Next season, choose a field for planting that has excellent drainage. If you hesitate to declare that any of your garden plants drain excellently, consider installing raised beds to improve the situation. Varieties of plants that are inclined to come down with phytophthora should not be planted in areas where the disease has been a challenge in recent years.

Not sure whether what you’re planting is a species that tends to contract phytophthora? The Royal Horticultural Society has compiled a convenient list of trees, shrubs, and other woody plants that are frequently attacked, sometimes damaged, and resistant to phytophthora When it comes to food crops, plants that tend to fall victim to phytophthora include apples, avocado, blueberry, citrus, horse chestnut, macadamia, pears,peppers, pineapples, pumpkins, squash, stone fruit, strawberries, sweet chestnut, tomatoes, wild chestnut, and zucchini. Host flowers include andromeda, dogwood, camellia, heaths, heathers, rhododendron, and azalea.) Use crop rotation even when no signs of phytophthora appear, rotating out of nightshade crops (eggplant, pepper, potato , tomatillo, tomato) and curcubit crops (cucumber, gourds, luffa, melon, squash, and zucchini) at three years minimum.

Rabbits: Peter Cottontail is a precious sight as he hippity hops through your garden, but unfortunately, these cute little creatures can absolutely decimate a garden in no time. They don’t only crave the foods we do, like carrots and lettuce—a rabbit in the garden will happily devour annuals, berries, perennials, vegetables, and even woody plants.

You’ll tend to see rabbits out and about at dusk and dawn, which is also when they do their dining, and they’re most frequently a problem at the beginning of spring. Evidence that a rabbit has treated your garden as its personal banquet will be missing foliage that has been cleanly cut by the rabbit’s long, sharp teeth, often cut down practically to the ground. Most other animals that eat your plants will leave an irregular, jagged edge. To be certain your damage comes from rabbits if you see clean cut foliage, check the area for burrows that could indicate woodchucks or groundhogs instead.

Once you know you’ve got rabbits, start defending your garden against them. Many methods of fending off rabbits capitalize on the sensitivity of their twitchy little noses. They dislike the scent of onions planted in the vicinity, and dried sulfur sprinkled around the garden or talcum powder dusted over vulnerable plants has a similar repellent effect. You can also use cayenne pepper (powdered, like the cayenne in your spice rack) to create a defensive border for your garden, or you can apply it directly to the plants rabbits may partake from. Some gardeners rely on sachets (fabric pouches or drawstring bags) of Irish Spring soap shavings in a few carefully chosen spots around the border of the garden to keep rabbits at bay.

Of course, a physical barrier such as floating row covers, collards made from cut-off metal cans, or cylinders of quarter-inch mesh hardware cloth will also do the trick. You may also try examining your property and the surrounding area for the rabbit’s nest, which might be a haphazard tumble of dried leaves and brush; a pile of firewood, branches, or other debris; or an adopted burrow that an animal of another species dug and then abandoned. If you can block the entrance of a tunnel nest or remove the pile of brush, wood, or leaves, the rabbits may be discouraged from returning to set up shop near your garden, moving house to another location instead. If all else fails, humane traps are available to assist you in relocating the rabbits.

For even more methods you can deploy to keep bunnies at bay, hop on over (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun) to our article featuring 4 Humane Ways to Keep Rabbits Out of the Garden.

Root knot nematodes: These tiny soil dwelling worms are known to feast on your plant’s roots and cause galls or knots in the root system. Root knot nematode infestations can be spotted by noticing the symptoms, such as yellowed leaves, stunted growth, wilting during the hottest part of the day but seemingly recovering by the evening, producing an underwhelming amount of fruit or producing a small, unhealthy looking crop. Check for signs of root knot nematode presence by pulling up a few plants and inspecting them closely. Prevent future infestations by purchasing resistant varieties and avoiding planting susceptible crops in the same spots in the garden which have had issues with root knot nematodes in the past. To study up on root knot nematodes, along with other kinds of nematodes you may encounter—both helpful and harmful—take a look at our article Nematodes: Good or Band in the Garden? [https://www.gardeningchannel.com/nematodes-gardening-explanation/]

Slugs and snails: Most of us can identify slugs and snails when they’re creeping along out in the open, but do you know how to tell when they’ve been munching on your plants once they’ve left the premises? Look for irregularly shaped holes along the edges of foliage, or places where leaves have been gnawed off entirely, leaving just a bit of stem behind. Despite their small size, slugs and snails can unleash a surprising amount of carnage in the garden. Slugs are nocturnal, so if your plants look perfect before you go to bed and have been ravaged by morning, these mollusks are a likely suspect. You can also look for the tracks they leave behind, which are circuitous, glimmering trails that you’ll find meandering along the ground or snaking across the leaves of your plants. Once you’ve pinpointed slugs and snails as the culprits behind your damaged plants, it’s time to start fighting back. Learn to make your own slug and snail traps in our article on Slug and Snail Pest Control.

You can get more tips to help you go on the offensive against snails and slugs—or really show these pests you mean business by learning to make your own electrified barricade that’s sure to keep them out of the garden—in the article How to Protect Seedlings from Slugs and Snails. And if you should apprehend one of these slimy intruders, think twice before you use capital punishment on them. When you’ve captured the slugs or snails responsible for destruction in your garden, we’ll admit it is satisfying to imagine sending the culprits to meet their maker by dousing them with salt or drowning them in a bucket of soapy water, but it’s much more productive in the long run to let them put their voracious appetites to work in the compost heap.

Hosta plants are a great choice for any type of garden, and with so many different sizes, colors, and textures to choose from, there is a hosta cultivar that is a perfect fit for any place in your garden that might need one. Hostas are easy to grow and care for, incredibly versitile, and they live for ages once they are established. Now that you know all of the ins and outs of growing hostas, there is no reason why you shouldn’t add a variety or two, or even several to your garden in the coming season.