Planting Hostas Around the Farm

April 9, 2021

The weather this week has been so pleasant here at my Bedford, New York farm - perfect for lots and lots of planting.

Over the last couple of days, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew planted hundreds of hostas around the farm. Hostas, with a palette of so many different colors, textures, and sizes have tremendous landscape value and offer great interest to the garden. I ordered the hostas from Pioneer Gardens, a wholesale company located on the outskirts of Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Enjoy these photos.

: Every year, I order lots of plants to place around the farm. Recently, a shipment containing hundreds of bare root hostas arrived from Pioneer Gardens. Bare root is a technique of arboriculture whereby a plant is removed from soil in a dormant state. Bare root stock should be planted within 48 hours of receipt, so it was important to get these plants in the ground right away.

: We planted a couple hundred in a bed behind my chicken coops – an area that was already planted with about 700 hosta plants last year. Here is Phurba digging one of many shallow holes for planting.

: When planting hostas, it is important to dig a hole wide enough to accommodate all the roots of the hosta without cutting or folding them.

: This hole is the perfect size – about three to four inches deep and twice as wide – it gives the plant enough space to spread out its roots.

: Here is one of the bare root hosta plants. Notice the crown at the top.

: Phurba spreads out the roots, while keeping the crown at soil level to avoid rot.

: Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars. Some of the hostas we are planting include this Hosta ‘Elegans’ which has huge, rounded, blue-gray leaves and white flowers in midsummer. (Photo from PioneerGardens.com)

: Another is this Hosta ‘Night Before Christmas.’ This has large, thick dark green leaves with wide creamy-white centers changing to pure white in midsummer. The plant grows to 18 inches with a three foot spread. (Photo from PioneerGardens.com)

: This is Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’ which features smooth, thick, widely-veined, frosty blue-green leaves with slightly wavy margins. Its growth habit is vase-shaped and grows to about three-feet in height and spreading to three to six feet wide. (Photo from PioneerGardens.com)

: I also decided to plant hostas in between the osage orange trees down by my Run-In horse shed. The Osage orange, Macular pomifera, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub. During the mid 19th century, the sharp-thorned trees were often planted as cattle-deterring hedges before the introduction of barbed wire in the 1870s. Afterwards, the Osage orange trees became an important source of fence posts. The Osage orange is also known as a Bois D’arc, a name that was given by French settlers meaning “bow-wood”.

: Phurba and Dawa dig all the holes all the way down the row – two or three holes in between each of the osage orange trees.

: Look closely, the soil in this area is excellent – one can see the layer of good, nutrient-filled compost and then the layer of rich, dark soil.

: One plant is dropped into each hole. The crew works in a production line process to get the job done quickly and efficiently. Hostas won’t mind if you take them from the box and plant them in the ground, as long as all chance of frost is past. Nighttime temperatures are in the 40s here at the farm.

: Once again, Brian makes sure the crown is even with the soil’s surface. If the crown is too low add more soil and check the plant position again before backfilling.

: Brian carefully spreads out the roots so they are not twisted.

: Hostas are perennial plants which grow from rhizomes. During the summer growing season, new hosta shoots will grow around the outer perimeter. Hostas thrive in total shade to nearly full sun which makes them ideal for planting under trees.

: And here is the hole backfilled with an inch of soil over the plant.

: Across the carriage road is a stand of weeping willows with their sweeping, low branches and falling canopy. These trees have such a stunning and dramatic appearance.

: Turning in the other direction is a view through the woodland. During the winter months, the crew spends a lot of time “cleaning the woods.” This is the result – a beautiful, unobstructed view through the trees and out to the hayfield beyond. I love seeing the beautiful landscape.