Okay, y’all ready for another what-we’ve-been-doing-outside post? This particular rundown, as you may have guessed from my title (why yes I can pun in Spanish), is about some hosta business that we pulled off, thanks to a bunch of extra hostas growing randomly in our backyard (this backyard garden bed is a hot mess but we’ll get to it someday!).
Since they weren’t doing much for us back there, we dug ’em up – about five in total – and decided to put them to better use. For starters, they certainly could help our bedraggled mailbox (which became quite weedy this spring).
The mums that were there turned into dead sticks in the winter and, well, don’t mind that big rock. We found it elsewhere in the front yard and somehow it ended up there temporarily. Perhaps to distract from the weediness? Sure. That’s why. And look at poor Squirrel-y (see him tipped over behind that lone cowlick of a daffodil that’s completely done flowering?). This is the “first impression” we’re putting out to the neighbors. Ugh.
So we pulled all of the weeds out of the driveway (which was a surprisingly major improvement) and the iron squirrel temporarily took residence in the liriope.
Now, the advice from Katherine The Landscape Gal had been to either make the planting bed around the mailbox larger or just let it fill in with grass/ground cover. Good advice. We didn’t really have the energy to dig up a bigger plant bed at this point though, and we liked how the petunias looked there last year. But next year we’d definitely love to expand this bed so it’s larger and more gracefully curved for a little more curb appeal magic.
For the meantime, we got three pots of petunias at Home Depot and, paired with some of the hostas dug up from the backyard, we got to planting.
Here’s our little arrangement. It looks a bit spaced out right now, but having learned how well flowers grow in that area we’re pretty hopeful that it’ll fill in nicely within a month or two.
Oh yeah, and a little mulch never hurt. Here’s where it’s achingly obvious that Katherine was totally right- this little garden would look so much better if it was bigger. Someday…
At least it looks better than this ridiculousness….
Since we still had a handful of hostas with no place to call home, we decided to use them in this still-blank spot of our front planting bed that we last detailed here.
Ta-dah!
No, wait. Here’s the real ta-dah (again, thanks to the power of mulch). Although, this gives you a good idea of how mulch fades after a few weeks in the sun (and pollen). Haha. So hopefully that dorky mulch-tan-line won’t be there for long.
People always ask what kind of mulch we use, and we just grab the darkest brown wood mulch Home Depot sells (it’s usually on a special like three bags for $7 or something). But once we establish these beds (hopefully by next spring) we’d love to get a mulch delivery since we hear they can be a lot less than buying by the bag as you go.
Oh and those hostas will get nice and giant so they won’t look as dinky (they seem to keep growing well into the summer, and can get 20+ inches wide). The area is looking better now that we’ve extended our new plantings a bit more, but what will really help is something that’s still in the works. Perhaps this rendering below will give you a hint…
Maybe that was more than just a hint. It’s actually already starting to come in, but I haven’t had a chance to mow and take proper pictures yet. That’ll be a topic for another day! Has anyone else used transplanted bushes or flowers to spruce up their landscape lately? Are you a fan of the hosta? They’re one of our favorite shade plants (haven’t killed one yet!). And they always seem to be popping up randomly around our yard (the same was true for our first house) so it gives us a little thrill that we don’t have to pay $5- 7 for them at the store since they seem to just sprout up at whim.
And those dudes are pretty darn hard to kill. True story: we once found one in a pot within a large sealed tupperware bin in our basement growing without any light or water about two months after we put it there while we moved! We thought the pot had nothing in it but dirt when we popped it into the bin along with some other pots, and then in the spring it started to sprout right inside the tupperware. We laughed for about five minutes when we found it. It was a hosta miracle, I tell ya.
Psst- We really should update this master list of outside tasks (it feels like we’re inching along out there, but we actually have a bunch we can cross off now).
Sherri says
Do you guys have deer in your neighborhood? Their #1 choice in food is hostas so if you come out one morning and you have sticks with no leaves, you’ll know what happened. Also, hostas like a little protection from full sun so yours might burn out a bit if that’s truly a full sun spot. All that aside, love me some hostas!!!
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve never spotted them ourselves, but apparently they’re around. I guess we’ll see how they fare!
-John
Chelsea @ Riding Escalators says
LOVING the hostas!! Our backyard is a hot mess too. Gotta love when Mother Nature just decides to do whatever she wants! Unfortunately we don’t have much growing willy-nilly like you guys since we’ve got such a small space – so I’m jealous of your big lot! Our city just had a native plant sale though – so we stocked up to do a little bit of landscaping of our own! But before that we had to get a new fence installed – it’s a big deal in our house! :) Next up, maybe we’ll have to track down some hostas…
http://ridingescalators.blogspot.com/2012/05/project-backyard-beautification-part-1.html
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- you’ve gotten so much done! Looking great!
xo,
s
Nancy says
Love to use transplants. I often take hosta volunteers from the rocks under our deck. I’m anxious to see what happens to your shade loving hostas once they’re in full sun.
Morgan says
Hey guys, I have been having troubles with my little patch of dirt, as well. What kind of mulch do you recommend? Our HOA hasn’t mulched in about a year (they are supposed to do it every spring and fall…but that’s what happens when it changes hands). Thanks for the help.
YoungHouseLove says
We just get the darkest brown wood mulch Home Depot sells (usually on special for 3/$7 or something). Someday we’d love to get a delivery since we hear it’s much more economical to get one big mound dropped off instead of buying by the bag as you go – so maybe next spring once everything is planted and we have a guess how much we’ll need?
xo,
s
Heather says
It’s much cheaper to get mulch by the yard than buying it in a bag from somewhere like Home Depot.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! As we mentioned in the post, we’d love to get it by the yard next spring (when we have more beds done and things planted, so we have a better idea of how much we need).
xo,
s
katalina says
I don’t dig for my huge curvy beds.
1) cut grass short, hose can help with curvy shape
2) put newspapers down–2 layers or so and wet them
3) cover with heavy leaf grow and then mulch ( some people use weed cloth but it can be problematic as far as planting and seeing the weed cloth when mulch moves…)
raised beds work better
4) later use a user spade to cut up the edge
YoungHouseLove says
So smart!
xo,
s
Sally says
I’ve done something similar. I don’t have a ton of newspapers, so I use cardboard. I save the bigger boxes for this.
Jenn @therebelchick says
I am stealing these tips for my yard, thank you! I hate using weed cloth, it can be quite expensive for the good stuff!
WI Gal says
Our neighbor recommended using paper bags (like you get at the grocery store) under mulch. This worked really well for us last year, though it only worked for one season as the bags decompose over time.
EngineerMom says
Love hostas! I’m a big fan of plants that are hard to kill and keep on giving (daisies, lilies, etc.), and hostas definitely fit into that category.
If you ever end up in Cincinnati, check out the civic garden center (not Cincinnati Gardens – that’s an arena!). They have one of the largest collections of hostas in the country, from those ones with the crazy-huge leaves to the lovely soft green clumps that end up crowned with delicate purple and white flowers in the late summer. It’s pretty neat to see how many varieties there are (It’s in the hundreds!), and how different they can be from each other.
YoungHouseLove says
Sounds awesome!
xo,
s
Amy says
The Civic Garden Center rocks in general, actually!
They have an awesome fundraising plant sale every spring.
Angie says
Freaky! I just published a post last night with the same title! Kind of twilight zone-ie! Here: http://www.angiesroost.com/2012/05/24/hosta-la-vista-baby/
Your gardening is starting to come around! Looks good!
YoungHouseLove says
Weird!!! I love it.
xo,
s
Carolyn says
Hosta’s are shade to semi shade plants. Can’t take full sun.
YoungHouseLove says
Oddly enough the ones in the back are full sun and seem to do well! We haven’t killed one once- but there’s always a first! Haha. Will keep you posted!
xo,
s
Skooks says
Ours live in pretty full sun and do great. They are huge and green. I’m not a gardener or a plant specialist by any means, but they work for us!
YoungHouseLove says
I think based on responses that it might vary by location or type of hosta (color, variagated, etc) since ours seem to work in the sun too!
xo,
s
Lou says
I’ve been working at a plant nursery for years now, and my department grows perennials. True, most hosta prefer shade, but certain variegated cultivars (such as ‘patriot’ or ‘francee’- and I think yours are one of those two) really don’t seem to care either way. You guys are right on, unless you have a rampant deer population, you really just can’t kill ’em!
YoungHouseLove says
Yay! So glad our theories about some varieties not minding full sun wasn’t way off. Ours really seem to be happy (didn’t want them to keel over!).
xo,
s
Barbara says
Looking good. Quick note – in my experience hostas don’t really like full sun. They tend to get yellow and spindly. Whereas in the shade they take on a rich green color and really flourish. If the mailbox really gets a lot of sun, you might keep your eye on those hostas.
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll have to keep an eye out! We have others in full sun (where we dug them up) that seem to be good to go though. Here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Kelly {the Centsible Life} says
I love hostas and they are so easy to transplant and divide. I do wonder if they will do ok in full sun since they tend to be shade-loving plants. The ones we had planted in full sun always got ‘crispy’ edges, and weren’t as lush as the ones in the shade.
Lindsay J says
Definitely transplanted a lot of stuff. First thing we did when we bought our house was take all the plants in the front flowerbed and move them to the back yard (I didn’t like them.) I didn’t even try to take care of them and they lived! And now I really like them. Some of my plants have “Babies” so I keep transplanting those, but I’m running out of spaces! I love free plants!!
Brita says
We just transplanted a 9 foot Norway spruce from the back to the front yard. It took about 4 hours! ugh! I love hostas and we have them all over our property, but by the end of the spring the deer eat them down to little nubs; its so sad. Its part of my argument to get a really big dog to scare them away! (and i just want a puppy!)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing about the spruce!!!! I’m bowing down to you- that’s an insane amount of work.
xo,
s
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
Hostas are wonderful! My mom just brought me several to plant at the Little House.
They do get huge, but when they do you can split and replant them (split them in spring when they’re about 2-inches high). They’ll basically double in size each time you split them in half (they’re like amoebas).
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, like amoebas. Love it!
xo,
s
Allison Mee says
Hostas are the best! My boyfriend and i just planted a hosta bed in our back yard earlier this week! your yard is looking good!
Julie says
This may be the best post title ever. You’re usually very witty, but this one takes the cake!
Do you know if you guys bought hardy mums last year? If so, they may return this year, so don’t dig them out. Just trim the sticks down to the dirt and you should be getting green soon, if you haven’t already.
Also, I think the “mulch tan line” is more a function of the moisture in the mulch. I’d bet if you wet down the old stuff with a hose, the coloring would be the same.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tan line tip! We’ll have to try it. As for the mums, not sure if they were hardy, but I think they might have gotten dug up while we planted this stuff. Oops.
xo,
s
Allyn says
I love hostas! I need to get some for one of our front beds.
I think mulch is the paint of the garden world. it’s amazing how much cleaner and more crisp things look when surrounded by a good dark mulch. However, I HATE red mulch. It’s like the puce of mulch.
Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says
Love the flowers around the mailbox – it’s a nice pop of color :)
Lauren Nicole says
We just transplanted two gorgeous bushes that our neighbor didn’t want anymore. I have no idea what they are called, but they are each about 3.5 feet wide and she gave them to us for FREE! Super Score!!
I am a hosta lover, too!
Cosmos says
I do the same thing as Katalina when making a new bed. If you cover the new bed with the same mulch you just put on the existing bed, by next summer you won’t have to dig, you will have superior soil and less weeds.
Every time you turn over (spade) garden soil you expose additional weed seeds. By layering newspapers (kills existing plants) and mulch you keep new weed seeds to a minimum.
YoungHouseLove says
So smart! I love it!
xo,
s
kris says
I’m also interested to see how those shade-loving hostas do in full sun. My parents love hosta but have had trouble with them on the south side of their house in full sun. One of the best parts of hosts though, is once they get big, you can use a shovel to split them. Both halves grow just fine and then can be split again. For frugal folks, it’s the best!
Ashley Reid says
Great work you guys! My husband and I love hostas!! We have planted a bunch in our front yard and every year they seem to multiply like flies. And ditto on always mulching – it always makes plants look so much prettier!
Pam says
We just transplanted some hostas from our back-yard to our front-yard. We have some funky bushes in front and the hostas helped with soft-scaping. Best of all it was free!
Teresa @ wherelovemeetslife says
I love hostas, and so glad you guys know how big they get. I didn’t when I first planted my flower beds, and well, the hostas ended up having to be moved!! I had 3 and they TOOK OVER the flower bed. But they are so pretty – I just planted them by the end of our driveway instead.
Looking good! Possibly, maybe, kinda, sorta a motivation for me to do some work on our “landscaping” this weekend…
Jan says
Hi–I’ve been lurking forever–love your blog! I couldn’t help commenting, because this is my field. Do both your mailbox and the bed where you moved the hosta have full sun? Hosta are shade plants–the leaves will burn and they’ll die with full sun. A great substitution that would be very low maintenance for both areas in full sun would be daylilies (Stella D’Oro would give you constant yellow summer color and fill in quickly to block out weeds). I’m in the upper midwest, so I mix mine with other perennials (come back every year) like cold hardy shrub roses, rudbeckia (black eyed susans), echinacea (purple coneflower), shasta daisy, nepeta (catmint), salvia, etc. Since you’re in a more temperate climate, you might want to talk to a local nursery re plants that work for your climate and area. The trick to gardening is really good soil preparation, and putting in long lived plants suitable for your climate in the right spot where they’ll thrive. Good luck and have fun!
YoungHouseLove says
Oddly enough, where we dug them up gets a lot of sun and the mailbox does too, but so far so good! They’re hard suckers to kill in our region, but we’ll keep an eye on them and definitely use some of your substitution plant ideas if they take a dive!
xo,
s
Christina says
It looks great – such an improvement! One quick note – and you may already know this – but petunias are generally cool weather flowers. So, they do great in the spring and fall, but get very “leggy” in the summer and don’t look as nice. Impatiens are a great summer flowering annual to try!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Christina! They seemed to like it out by the mailbox last summer (got huge and not leggy- sort of bushy actually-haha) but we’ll have to see how they do this year!
xo,
s
Robin @ our semi organic life says
You should do a mini how to on transplanting plants. It seems like it’d be easy but I personally have no clue how to dig up a plant right. How deep? Is it okay to dig through some of the roots? Any other tips?
YoungHouseLove says
We have no idea either! We just try not to crush the roots (dig out further than we think just in case) and make the same sized hole to put them into as we took them out of! Haha.
xo,
s
Robin @ our semi organic life says
great answer! That’s probably what’d I’d try!
Laura says
My friend’s mom is a Master Gardener and recently said the following about hostas and knock-out roses, “You can curse at them, step on them, and spit on their mother’s grave and they will still grow!” haha She’s from Argentina (but has lived in the US for over 40 years) so she says it with flair and a thick Spanish accent. :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- love it! That is totally the hosta quote of a lifetime.
xo,
s
Regenia says
I haven’t moved my hostas yet, but that’s pretty well true for the roses. Ours was choked out by poison ivy last year, and we cut it to the ground in the middle of summer, severed roots, and then dug up all the poison roots we could get. This year, happy pink roses and no sign of poison.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that! So lucky!
xo,
s
julie s says
A Hosta miracle! HA!
Sally says
I’ve had good luck transplanting hostas in my yard.
In terms of figuring out how much mulch to order…it’s just math. Or if your not a math geek there are online calculators. I recommend over-ordering because there’s nothing wrong with a mulch pile that lasts until next year!
Sally
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s true!
xo,
s
r8chel says
I transplanted a bunch of hostas from my mom back in April, and I’m eager for them to get bigger like the ones we already had. They really thrive along our one very shaded walkway. And now this weekend we plan to mulch, mulch, mulch…
Kate says
We have a ton of hostas at our house (we didn’t plant them, they were there when we moved), probably covering at least a third the perimiter of our house. I love that they’re easy to take care of, and they remind me of childhood since my mother always had a ton of them (our house actually had three plants that remind my of my yard growing up, a lilac bush, tons of hostas, and tiger lillies – perfect).
Carla says
I actually had a hosta that I planted last year not survive the winter – so they can be killed! Although according to some friends (who have had this occur) it may decide to revive in August! I guess I’ll find out….
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, wait on that guy! He might come back to ya!
xo,
s
yadira batres says
Plants, flowers and mulch always make everything look pretty I love it.
<3
Yadi B.
Barb says
Nice job John and Sherry!
Love all your plantings.
I have a perennial garden that was mostly “FREE” from my neighbor who cleans out her garden yearly as her husband gives her 500 dollars a year for new plants. “HER JUNK….MY TREASURE!!!” as you would say…..S.C.O.R.E!!! I have a garden that is magazine worthy!!
Keep at it and yours will be great.
As I heard once about garden plants….
1st year…You plant
2nd year…the plants grow
3rd year…Plants show (their beauty)
One question…in the front garden by the door…Did you use brown mulch and black mulch? Kind of looks like you mixed 2 colors. YIKES!!!
Happy Memorial Day weekend. Am sure you are heading to ocean-fun.
B.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no Barb, check out the description under that section- it’s just fresher mulch put down that day next to faded mulch (of the same exact type) that had been put down a while ago! Hopefully the mulch-tan-line will fade over time, it already looks a little better!
xo,
s
Kim says
Love that you say hostas are hard to kill as I stare at my wilted one in my office. It’s only a few weeks old and the leaves are shriveling up. I think I need more soil on it, but geez louise do I feel like an idiot now! Haha.
I also have one at home that I have killed and brought back to life a few times. I should just start calling it my Jesus plant.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, Kim! Didn’t mean to twist the knife! Haha. I have never tried to keep them inside, so maybe that’s harder than out in the yard!
xo,
s
Amy @ this DIY life says
I’ve read a lot of the comments that say hostas can’t take full sun. Not entirely true. Just guessing at the variety you have they should be fine. The all blue and all green ones tend to be the ones that need mostly shade. The ones with white tend to be more tolerant of the sunshine. My aunt is a master gardener and has over 80 hosta varieties in her little back yard so I always go to her with my hosta questions. I have seven hostas that get mostly sun in the front yard and they are all doing fine…thriving actually. You can see three of them in front of our deck in this post (http://thisdiylife.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/our-pet-zebra/) that I obviously need to update the pictures on. You’ll also see that we are totally crazy cat people in that post. I think you’re good with your hostas where you have them which was really the point of this comment before I started rambling :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, that has been our experience with those too (we dug them up from a sunny spot and put them into another sunny spot and they seem ok, but they also thrive in shade like next to our carport and on our porch). We’ll have to see how they do this summer! Will keep you guys posted!
xo,
s
Cara @ Live The Home Life says
Much improved! Hostas are just about the only plant I can keep alive. I have them everywhere for just that reason! Happy weekend!
Cara
emily @ go haus go says
It looks great. Mulch is like the paint of the outdoors!
Ashley Faye says
Looks great! I am happy you guys are getting into gardening. I have been posting a lot of stuff as I graduate into an actual green thumb and I really don’t see much of flora and fauna on the blogs I read. So, YAY!
Meg says
we moved in the winter and knew we’d have some kind of plant sprout up in the hard from what we saw. It turned out to be bright green hostas! I love them – our are a bright green, my favorite color. There are 6 of them total and they get so much sun they are already super big!
Shelley says
I think hostas are absolutely beautiful! My mom has some in her garden that were starts of plants my grandma gave her. My grandma has been gone for over 20 yrs and the plants in my moms garden are still thriving. I just love walking past them and remembering her. Maybe that’s why I find them particularly beautiful. :)
Melanie says
Hostas are pretty. Down here, they need a bit more shade (oh, Louisiana), but I imagine they’re fine in the sun in your area. I would NEVER have them planted near my porch/doors here though because they are a lizard haven. And I am terrified of lizards! lol
Donna says
Oh, that looks so cheerful! Nice job!
Megan says
I have hostas that are close to 3 feet wide. Monsters!!! I’m hoping to separate them this fall. And I’d highly recommend buying by the truck load. Save the plastic, support local! :)
Bethany [at] Powell Brower Home says
i feel overrun by hostas in my yard. im thankful because at least they are pretty, but its like they multiply every year!! your verigated ones are BEAUTIFUL!
Mariah says
I love Hosta’s too! My friend gave me 4 of hers when she needed to thin hers out and I was making a new flower bed. Now those 4 have become huge and I’ve split them to move around my yard too. We call it our friendship plant since as it gets bigger and bigger, we pass some along.
Whitney says
This is so funny! We had about 10 hosta’s growing in a random spot along our driveway ( where the deer are likely to get them) so last night we dug them up and transplanted them in our fenced in backyard to a spot that desperately needed some love….and I told my husband, I was pissed that I didn’t get a “before” pic, because I thought it would make a great blog post!!!
Stephanie says
Hostas are the best! My in-laws have several huge elephant ear hostas and let us dig up parts of them to transplant into our yard back in April. The ones we replanted are huge already, and you can’t even tell we lopped off parts of the ones at their house.
Julie says
I call hostas the cockroaches of the plant world. You really can’t kill them! I was gifted three of them one summer…plopped them down on the ground with the intention of returning to plant them and never got around to them. They lived, root ball and all, above ground all fall, winter, spring and looked gorgeous and lush the next summer. LOL. Never planted. Never watered. I plucked them up the next summer, moved them to where I wanted them, and planted them then. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- so funny!
xo,
s
Emily @ The Diligent One says
Long live the Mighty Hosta! I once transplanted about 39843722 hostas from my front yard to my back when we got a new walkway out front. I successfully moved each and every one except for the very last one. I couldn’t bear to dig one more hole. So, I plopped him upside down into a plastic planter. Well, whatdya know- that phototropic little guy figured out how to grow in the correct direction and totally reoriented himself and lived quite happily in that pot for years. With no dirt other than what was on his root ball.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- those suckers are hardy!
xo,
s