You definitely have it going,Wayne!! One of the best grouping I've ever seen! None of my hostas are that old,but I'm workin' on it. Phil

Wayne,

Your GE's are BREATHTAKING! How OLD are they and how long have they been left in their current location?

That's one of my problems. I've had to move my hostas 3 times in 3 years. This year my GE's can stay put and perhaps even have a chance to get a little growth under their belts.

Char

Thanks for the kind comments Phil and Char. The green GE was purchased and planted under the pine tree, where it never sees the sun, in 2002 or 2003. The gold one I bought in the fall of 2001. It spent '02/'03 under a soft maple tree where it looked nice but grew very little. He spent the summer of 2004 with 30ish siblings in full sun in a raised vegetable bed loaded with mushroom compost and deeply watered every second day ... then moved to current location under a locust tree in Sept '04.

When I dug up the "vege" hostas to move them to a new house they all had very large healthy root systems. I believe Ken and perhaps others on this forum have recommeded this procedure ... It works! ...Wayne

Here's how the vege garden looked in 2004. GE at bottom right of first photo.

Wayne,

So some of your secrets to big heathy root systems are: raised beds (providing great drainage and air to the roots), lots of water every other day, mushroom compost, full sun (zone 5b). With them packed in this holding bed, looks like you didn't even need to mulch since you were moving them to a permanent spot before winter.

Was the mushroom compost your only form of fertilizer? What do you use for slug control? When you moved them to the new shadier home under the locust (and not a raised bed), did you notice any decrease in growth in 2005?

Thank you for these photos! A visual feast!

Char

Beautiful Hostas, beautiful photos, thanks for sharing.

Most of the plants from the vege garden went into this new bed in which we had tilled in a pickup load of mushroom compost. They carried on in '05 as though they had not been moved.

Mulching/edging day - May 20, 2007

July 14, 2007

I mix bonemeal and mushroom compost into the planting holes and water in with a liquid transplant fertilizer (10-50-10). I sprinkle around a cheap general granular fertilizer in early May and again towards the end of June.

I now water deeply, twice a week and that seems to keep everybody happy. The key is "deeply". Use a moisture meter to make sure you are getting deep. I don't necessarily skip a watering because of rain. You can never be sure how much water gets through the tree canopies unless you check with a meter. As Ken says... water, water, water!

There are a lot of slugs around so I try to remember to put some metaldehyde baits or Sluggo around every few weeks. Dogs must be leashed at all times in our community so no worries there ... same with kids !!!

No secrets ... preparation, patience and water are the keys. Wayne

Oh, Wayne...these photos are stunning! The astilbes, tulips and hydrangeas playing off the wonderful mix of hostas! I like how you show how the beds have progressed at different times of spring/summer. You did a beautiful job of bed preparation and I love the curving beds and walkway. I just want to stick my hands in that soil like a kid in a sandbox. It is easy to see that your hostas felt the same way.

Char

WOW! I love it! you have a wonderful garden, it should be in a magazine! have you ever sent your pictures in?

you should! Really, you should! more people should be able to enjoy it.

Im from 'The Hammer' too.

Where do you purchase your hostas, and mushroom compost?

beautiful pics

Thank you all for the compliments. We do love our gardens.

Puckhog, most of our plants came from Terra or Holland Park in Burlington when they have their July and September sales. Harper's in Ancaster has the greatest variety locally that i know of ... they are pricey but they always clear out some ratty looking specimens in late September that come up great next spring. Hortico is a wholesaler/grower in Waterdown that has a large variety and great prices, an on-line catalogue and does sell individual plants to the public even though they do not advertise it. Visit Jack Kemp at the Potting Shed in Dunnville. He is on-line. All plants reproduced by division, no TC ... a few bucks more but a couple of years ahead and an amazing selection of daylilies.

Thanks....I have bought most of mine at Harpers and I know what you mean by the price...I live up in the meadowlands so I dont really have room for too many or I'd go broke. I've heard of the guy in Dunnville before so i will certainly check him out this spring.....which place for the mushroom compost?

Puckhog, check your e-mail. Wayne

thanks for the info

WOW! Beautiful Gardens. And no matter where GE grows or who GE hangs with, he's always is a show stopper! Nice plants.

just beautiful!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful landscape!

Alexa

What can I say that hasn't already been said. I love hostas!!!! Your landscape is totally gorgeous. You have the neatest edging. Pauline has told me what she uses to edge her beds and I was wondering what you use. Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful!!!! Judy

Thanks again for the kind words from you all. At this time of year we all need to look at new pictures and get inspired for the new growing season.

Judy, I use a Black & Decker EdgeHog to make new edges. After that, just a spade. It's a pain but they look nice and people notice. Wayne