Hi Val,
You want the crown to sit just an inch or so below the surface.
Pam

You want the crowns just AT the soil surface!
I never saw a hosta suffer from being planted an inch too high, but I have seen them die from being planted an inch too deep.
Linda C

Thanks. I think my new ones might be a little deep, I will check them out tomorrow. If so, do I adjust them now? They are just unfurling.

Linda,
So does that mean you always have an 'eye' stick up above the ground surface? Or do you cover with mulch?
Pam

Some of my hostas suffered this year because the crowns were exposed over the winter, unbeknownst to me until this spring. I had received them bareroot last year, so I'm interested in this question as well. Obviously, I don't know how deep to plant either.

Deanna

Plant with the place where the crown and roots join at the surface.
You may add some mulch to keep the crown from drying over the winter....but I have happy healthy hosta with the top of the roots and a lot of the crown exposed....sort of liek a mini banyan tree.....and I had a couple of dwindling and puny Montana aureomarginata which were planted too deep. I moved them last fall and this spring they are going gangbusters.
Some hosta are more sensitive to being planted deep than others. I buried a Krossa regala few years back.......yhr next year it looked puny, the following year, it had a ring of new eyes outside of the old too deep crown, the next year the old crown died and created a hosta atoll and this year the "lagoon" ins porting new eyes.
But all hosta aren't so resiliant.
Linda C

One mistake I initially made when I first began my hosta aficionado was to pull the plant from the pot and stick it directly into the ground (at or at least around the proper depth).
The plant seemed fine the first year or so, then as the original potting mix began to break down; the plant would slowly begin to sink, eventually rotting the plant.
Although I had tilled, and appended the surrounding soil, the old potting mix started decomposing immediately, causing a mushy sink hole.
I had lost quite a few hostas because of this mistake, and now I carefully remove ALL the medium from around the hosta and roots and then plant it into the pre-prepared soil, then if there is any decomposition or soil settling, then the whole area settles togetherÂ
Initially I wanted to minimize the disturbance to the plant and roots, which ended up being a big boo booÂ.

Great description of your Krossa island, LindaC!

Mikey, I've been having hostas sinking too and didn't know why. Your explanation makes perfect sense. I'll bet this is what killed my pretty 'Patriot.' :( Thanks.

I have four "Sum and Substance" hostas which were planted from bare root last year. None of them appear to have (what as a novice) am calling strong structure. The stalk and leaves of 2 of them are totally laying on the ground. The other 2 appear to be struggling to stand erect. None of my other hostas are or have ever done this. Yesterday I went out and put "Natures Helper all around them to get them to stand up. Today, I read that can attract voles. What did I do wrong and what do I need to do to correct these "leaning" plants?