I'm a believer in newspaper and cardboard as liners for weed suppression, but you don't want it to actually touch your house because of termite issues. That's true of your mulch and dead leaves, too.

It's too late now, but what most of us would have told you is to throw them in the bathtub overnight to let them get rehydrated. But I'm not saying "it's too late" for your hostas!

What you have is probably hosta erromena or hosta Ventricosa, and they are tough buggers. The greens are always good and strong. I worry you may have planted them too deep, but we'll wait until you can show us a picture to be sure.

Without pictures, can't tell if you are already past the firt flush of leaves and will have to wait for the second flush a month or so from now for the plants to look as you'd like -- or if you're still in first flush, and may see something you like within ten days.

They're hostas. They're almost certain to live. :)

I'm sorry I didn't ask for advice first, but I did water them all with the hose in the pots while I was doing the prep work, probably not enough to soak it up well. It's odd the soil was so dry (not bone dry) because it rained a lot yesterday, but maybe she's got such a jungle of them going there, it soaks it up fast. If I'd asked and waited for an answer, it would have been dark. Another time, I will heed your advice believe you me, and I thank you for it.

Overall, that is encouraging. Since digging especially on a slope is hard for me, I doubt I got most of them too deep and if I did, some of the soil will probably wash away in which case I can lay down a little more if need be. That one I replanted had the crown roots exposed a little. Some had pretty big roots I was tempted to trim back but didn't have to, didn't want to further damage these, didn't do a professional job for sure, just the best I could under the circumstances.

Second flush, anything will be good if they only grow, don't care if they are not that great to look at so long as I have a chance with ending up with something nice. I figure if only one or two make it, I can use those when they get big enough to divide or pester her for some more, but not this year.

I will try to take a photo in the morning. My back and knees are killing me. Last year wasn't so bad, but now I'm facing physical therapy for my back, resisted but will have to at least try it. In the fall :-). Got too much work to do.

I mail order most of my plants and got 2 David? phlox bare root with roots so long I would have had to dig a hole very deep and wide, so I cut them back and potted them up. I could not believe those roots when I unpacked them! One is popping up now, and the other nothing. Always the unexpected.

Always nice to plant before a run of cool rainy days, which reduces stress to plants of all kinds.
That is cerainly not always possible, so just hope you don't get a run of really hot days. I check the weather report, and sometimes park plants in the shade in pots until the outlook is favorable.
If a plant starts to look droopy after planting or transplanting, I pop a cardboard box or wicker basket over it during daytime heat, and remove at dinner time (if I remember) If you have a big plant or row of new plants, you can rig something else up. I have rolls of burlap, cut into various sizes. I have lots of bamboo stakes, and use those to hold up the burlaps (twist-ties to secure it) If it's windy, I've even dragged out lawn furniture and draped the burlap across for a couple of days. A day or two or three seems to be the answer, depending on conditions and amount of stress that the perennial or hosta suffered from.
And water, water, water.

It may be my imagination, but they might look a little better this am, but I can see I didn't plant them very straight and need to chop out some more grass. I tried to set them out a ways from the steps for when they fill out but still may have them too close. Will try to keep them watered well because this slope I've tried alyssum years ago, and it dries out fast when it gets hotter. It may be too hot for them there even with just morning sun and some of that dappled.

Nights are running in the low to mid forties, projected 60's all week, maybe that will be better for them.

Oh, here I go again, too many words, but you mentioned mulch. No problem here but that new bed you see in a photo is going to need mulch for the new rhododendrons, also may have to mulch the front bed, so I'll keep the termites in mind, may already have some or carpenter ants somewhere high in the bathroom. Too many worries around here.

I looked up the names of those two you mentioned, one had a variegated deeper purple white bloom, all seemed to have darker leaves, don't think it is this one. I can't remember if the flowers are upright, bell-like or what and can't find the few photos I once took of some plants in her yard to see if I got the hostas in or not.

These have more apple green leaves, all season I think, and the flowers from the street look pure white. It was only when I went up to knock on the door that I noticed that they have a VERY slight light lavendar tinting on just the top of the flowers.

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Thanks, I mentioned the weather forecast in this am's photo post and will bear that in mind about shading them if they look more stressed than they already are if it warms up too much. My this has been one cold May, have to turn the heat on, odd weather. They often get the forecast wrong. Water water water. Will do. Thanks for your comments and ideas.

We must have been posting at the same time. I could not get my photos embedded right, finally figured out what I did wrong. I shaded a new rose last year w/chair & cushion, but on this hill, that won't work. I've got bamboo stakes, plant loops, chicken wire, thin cloth, not enough rebar, boxes up the gazoo, can figure out something.

Our forecasts are notoriously unreliable, but it looked good when I checked the 10-day forecast today, a few more showers wouldn't hurt, that has been good overall, little watering so far. I think I'll try wet newspaper and leaves and hope it doesn't dry out and all blow around the neighborhood. If I tack with landscape pins which I'd have to run and get, they don't hold well in this nice, loose topsoil, sure glad I chipped off the slag from the concrete pouring (nobody ever asks for that!) and pulled out lots of clay chunks from setting that rail, and I don't need landscape pins getting in the lawn mower. My daughter does that for me.

Just that little bit of work, and I'm feeling it this am, so much left to do. My daughter, husband & son were going to help with a new, long bed on Mother's Day, but is was very rainy and cold. The tiller will help if I ever get it back, but once I get smaller plants set out, I won't be able to use it to cultivate much but will be useful for keeping borders neater. Somebody warned me not to try it on this hill. Oh well, I do what I have to do wear my camping boots and try to be careful.

Water them in the best you can and they should be fine. From your description and the picture I think they are Hosta 'Honeybells'. It is a vigorous hosta that is easy to grow and pretty forgiving.

Normally I would say that you shouldn't ever tamp in a hosta after planting since they like a lot of air space at the roots. In this case you probably had to do that or the soil might wash away.

And if I ever heard that someone came over and dug and divided one of my hostas without asking first I would probably never allow that person to set foot on my property again. You might not want to tell your friend you did that ;)

Thanks, I will look up honeybells. Thank you for the input. I didn't tamp them in too hard, and the soil, thankfully, is pretty airy compared to what was there before, mostly clay.

Yeah, bad move, I wrote her a note and taped two copies to her doors and did tell her what I did because she might notice that things were slightly different, hope she forgives me. I offered to pay for any damage I might have done and mean it. I would NEVER go into somebody's yard and divide their hostas in any other circumstances though, still doesn't excuse it.

I have enough I could have just bought some but free offers are nice, too, because then you can buy something else nobody has or would be able to give you.

I know what you mean. I wouldn't care if someone dug something out of my yard if we'd worked it out in advance, don't know how I'd feel if the exact situation were reversed. If I hadn't been so tired, sore and desperate, I'd have waited and asked her. We shall see. She just took them all from one spot, looks like a big gap there, hope they all weren't for me. I sure as heck under any circumstances wouldn't have dug up a large clump of them without their knowing and getting permission.

The only thing I ever snitched since I was a kid, never stole anything but picked some peoples' flowers once. My father marched me down there and made me apologize. I took some rose cuttings from a vacant lot, have pictures of how that poor bush was choked by trees, weeds, trash, I'd be in trouble if I had my property like that. I still feel a little guilty about it, but got one to root, and it is happily growing in my back yard. It appears the bush is history. Either they dug it up or it died finally. I was taking a lot of photos for help with an id, and somebody probably saw me taking the cuttings and poking around in there to see if it suckered. So I made an enemy with those people. He had said I could dig a few lilies growing on the hillside, beautiful ones, said I certainly wouldn't take them all, about 6 or 8 of each, but wanted to wait until fall. I drove by and they were all fallen over, looks like he sprayed them. Every single other one I got permission. One said no because the bush hadn't done well, but maybe next year, and I honored that and bought my own, but that's one on the market.

The irony is that I had toyed with buying that lot because it's not too far but in a low property value neighborhood, wanted to plant dozens of flowers and let kids come (supervised) and cut boquets for Mother's Day. I see why that would not have worked because of the way people are. Some are so nice, and others . . .my health was better then, couldn't handle it now.

Fully sympathy on your bad back. I wish I'd thought to mention the prop-them-up trick!

Only other trick in my bag: your slope is so steep, I'm going to suggest something a little unusual.

At a nursery, buy a bunch of rocks or stones that are about fist-sized.

Make a horseshow of these rocks on the downside of each hosta, placing them about five or six inches away. This will help dam the soil a little bit. Go ahead and mulch any way you want to, around or over the rocks.

You're a lot bolder about clipping roots than I am. On the phlox, I would have gone as deep as I felt I could, and then spread them horizontally, rather than cut them off.

I agree with the 'Honeybelles' i.d. even though I have none of my own, and I agree that they're almost certainly going to be fine.

geeeezzz . what a bunch of girl talk .. sorry i cant read it all ... rotflmbo ... its a guy thing

you could have left them on the driveway for a week or two ... there wasnt that much to worry about ...

take some masking tape.. and tape the leaf upright... so as to support them until the roots start pumping water... if they fully collapse ... not to worry.. the next set will stand up properly ...

and the stage they were dug up .. they will be ugly for a while.. should have done it sooner or later in the summer.. but you have to take free hosta when they come ... so no use worrying about it ...

you biggest problem.. next to those steps.. is how you are going to give them a gallon of water a day AT ROOT LEVEL ... very deep watering ... without having the water all run downhill and wash away all your soil ...

just brainstorming here.... gallon milk just with a few 1/16 inch holes.. above each plant.. and let it trickle out the bottom without washing away the soil .. MIGHT WORK ....

good luck

ken

ken, I don't blame you about the girl talk and thanks for the advice. And it was mostly me running off at the keyboard, noted for that. Sometimes I can't make myself write anything. I've been feeling bad all day about digging that extra one I split again when I got home.

Just watered, and it sure does run right down the hill. I think the gal jug idea (guess I'll have to trash pick to get enough of those) is worth a try or a soaker hose (don't have any yet) on slow trickle but I'm trying to figure out what to buy and rig for a couple other places. I think some mulch will help, too, absorb the pressure of the water, even leaves which have mostly broken down will stick as long as I don't blast them and they stay wet.

I was torn whether to plant hostas or daylilies there, glad I ended up with hosta.

I can shovel up the soil when it gets bad enough, put it back up and add a little more, done it before. We'll just have to see how it goes. I will try the masking tape, never would have thought of that. I'm really concerned about that grass. If I don't find the feeder roots, I could yank one right out of there pulling the grass out.

The other thread was helpful, said to let the leaves stay until new ones form then take them off in about a month. Assuming. The runty ones look like they might have the best chance.

I'm starting to really like hostas. Especially these. The poster was right, they have to be honeybells, match pics I found perfectly.

i would have gone with daylily ... can take much less water and thrive ...

any neighbor who has a kid or two.. will have a milk jug every day or two ... i got about 50 of them in the garage for various projects ... ask around ...

i can see the passion .. just cant read it all .. lol ...

plain ole weeper hose ... the cheap stuff.. might not work on that angle ... the pressure at the bottom will not be the same as the pressure at the top ... but if you can go upscale on cost... you cant get engineered drip irrigation that will compensate for such ...

ester will probably tell you to bury the milk jugs under the plant ... to make a holding basin for water... but i havent tried it yet ...

you go girl ... lol

ken

I hope I don't have to switch to lilies now that my heart is set on how nice these hostas might look if I am lucky. I don't recall any around growing on slopes like mine offhand now that you mention that. I agree that lilies which I just got into withstand drought and less fussing better. That terrace has always been a bugaboo to me.

I've got some rocks but not quite enough, and bought a bag of them for a french drain last year, used them all, more heavy work hauling them, break them down into buckets working out of the back of my car, but I might do that. I think I've got more rocks in my head for dreaming all this up lol.

Or . . .you gave me an idea. I have enough pepsi bottles on hand, some I used for rose propagation, I could try to open them up to make a horeshoe-shaped catch basin, and shove those in the ground downside prob could go at a couple or 3" and see how it works first.

Milk jugs would work, too, except if I don't make a plateau for them, they might slide into the hostas, or scatter, esp when empty, and I don't mind trash picking. All mine are in use for stuff I learned over on the winter sowing forum or being saved for that next year, do buy gallons but they last pretty long with just one person & not much cooking lately.

Granted they aren't on a slope like this, but my other hostas didn't get much TLC especially the ones behind the garage which is a difficult spot the way the drainage, accessibility and soil are (needs amending and levelling). I only watered them every 3 days or so the first year, have to haul it, hose doesn't reach that far, once a week if they were lucky the 2nd, and they at least look nice and healthy, probably would get larger if sited, re-mulched, and treated differently.

Was reluctant to get into soaker hoses and irrigation drips, but did a little homework on that last year. But if they are going to require this much fussing assuming they get established, I'll prob move the survivors and go with the daylilies. If the roots grab and take hold, they should be able to withstand a little more and hold the soil as well.

Brainstorming this dilemma has been very helpful, and I'm grateful to all of you for your expertise and suggestions. Haven't seen my neighbor, sure hope she isn't mad at me, I'm kind of a loner, but I'd rather not have bad feelings over my impulsiveness, not considering possible consequences, and a smallish hosta division. Hard work is difficult for her, too, it all started when I dug out a whole bed of daisies in front, they didn't bloom long and the only good thing about them was they sure choked out all the weeds and everything else. She saw me and wanted them, and was pretty tuckered out after she got done setting them in, had already thrown 2/3 of them away, at least 20 years younger than me and a job, 3 dogs to walk and horses to boot. I have to face it, my age and back are against me, and I may not be able to keep up with all my grandiose plans for a relatively small yard.

Oh dear, another long one. Well you can always hit the ignore key :-).

They are looking really good, even the runty ones, getting bigger, form should improve in time. I've still got some cleanup to do, but the weather has been in my favor, cool and rain. Watered faithfully.

I did shovel the dirt off the sidewalk and fill it back in twice now. I think I can water every 2 days now when it doesn't rain.

I returned the pots and met her son, he doesn't think she'd be mad at me. She doesn't even live there, and I guess it was her son who did the digging for me, may hire him to help with some chores, nice kid.

I would take some 2 liter bottles, poke some holes around the bottom quarter and then bury one up to its neck (leaving the top exposed) near each hosta. Then, when it's time to water, just stick the hose in the bottle and fill it up. The water will seep out the holes, directly to the roots of the hosta... rather than running down the slope.

You can always disguise the bottle necks with something like a few pretty rocks... and when the hosta get big, they'll cover them up anyway.

icyveins, that's a good idea, especially since it WILL get hot and DRY EVENTUALLY, so cold for May here, rain, 50 today (feels colder); in some ways it's a good thing.

I don't think I have the strength to bury them as deep as you suggest on that slope though, I don't care what they look like this year. The plants still look kind of pathetic, but they are standing up on their own now.

I started with hosta mid-summer in the bed in the second photo; it was the kind I wanted, lanceolate? lancifolia? but I wanted the flowers darker purple like the ones at the park, these are too light lavendar for me. Drat, I see I am going to have straighten that shepherd's hook, I thought I had it in there straight. Those jugs are winter sown perennials I just opened up, and I'm waiting to set out when they get just a little stronger.

Now I see I should have set some hostas further away from the steps, will have to correct for that at some point, but not now. Thanks to all for your help and encouragement; I really thought they might be goners from the git go and it was another exercise in futility.

Approx 14 days later:

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Honeybells are tough hostas, if you keep at the watering they should be fine. I dug some up and split them for my daughter last year and she left them in the back of her truck in pots (not much soil either) for a week and they did just fine for her. Looked really good by the end of the season. I think the buried bottles might be a good idea for getting them watered on your slope. Perhaps you could at least try putting some mulch on the dirt to conserve the moisture. Good Luck with them.

If you can't bury 2 liters deep enough, you might try 20 oz. bottles instead. You'd just have to fill them a few times when you water, instead of just once with the larger bottle. Might be easier to do that than dig really deep holes for bigger bottles!

Wow, that is amazing, especially since it is a tough job just splitting those, probably a really sharp spade would help, can only imagine what they must have looked like after mine only sat for hardly an hour or so, usually if I give something in a pot, I water it to try to hold it better. They do seem tough though.

When I get my major planting finished elsewhere, still an awful lot left to do, then I will mulch, but not sure what with, newspapers & rotting leaves, trying to conserve on the bags of commercial stuff I buy and will have to buy yet again. Just mulching & those bottles even will mean more work, but at least I've got 8 bottles! When it starts drying out, I'll give it top priority.

I noticed that the rains didn't seem to wash the dirt too much, not like when I hose it, I can't stand and mist but use the weakest spray possible. Maybe if I drag the hose to the bottom and aim up, it would help. I really will try to do the bottle thing, but even that little bit of unplanned work is going to take a toll on my time and energy level, have to pace myself.

Kind of nice to have a break with all the rain and wet, then it will get hot, humid and weeds in all my beds.

I'm going to put a web page together with pictures of all my problems around here and ask for help on my rose forum for ideas of what will tolerate what. No matter what I try to do to make things better, something backfires on me that I didn't foresee or just happened.

I expanded a circle around one rose, clematis and thingie I rigged up, and it took 1/2 bag of cypress mulch, and now that it has rained, it could use a little more!

I'm tired from my trip to HD, 2 shepherd's hooks to try to shore up my clematis that went bonkers on me, either that or rebar teepees (too heavy of work pounding those in) hauling a bag of potting soil (that's why I buy Miracle Gro, it's lighter) and carting home a 40# bag of wet topsoil, used my wheelbarrow but still, that's too heavy for me now.

Thanks again.