IMO, it's personal taste and how you respond to the aesthetics of the overall garden. If you look at the book "The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas" by Diana Grenfell and Michael Shadrack (with a Foreward by HRH The Prince of Wales), you will see a few pics of what I think are depictions of the way they should eventually look - lush. On page 33 there is a picture of a sliver of Gil Jones' garden in which other foliage plants give background height and interest. But to me, this is perfection and of course, quite English. I prefer not to see mulch or anything between them so I tend to crowd until it becomes obvious they're really in a holding bed and I have to begin the dig. The book is great - unfortunately, the published date is 2004 and there are so many hundreds more cultivars it seems quite dated. I am going to celebrate when Mark Zilis (Zillis?) finally gets his new book to market.

Westy

PS Japanese Forest Grass (hakonachloa) is an exceptional plant for the front of the hosta bed and is quite elegant against any one of them.

I overcrowd too and don't like bare ground showing - lol
Hey, get rid of those two rocks in the first photo - that's space enough for another hosta! lol

I too, prefer to have the "snuggle" look. The less mulch to see the better. I love to see the leaf contrast together. Van WadeÂs gardens are vast lushes of Hosta beds that you just get lost in and believe me you see no mulch there!

It all depends on your personal preference.

Deb

All you need is enough mulch to put your foot down on when you are digging to cram another hosta in. LOL

i would never move the FW ... or whatever it is ...

i would move the one in front of it ....

i would move the one to the left of it.. since it looks just like it ...

and i would move the yellow one to the front left of it.. i like the color play .. but it is too big.. if you can find a smaller of the same color it might look nice ..

ken

I overcrowd.
Small Suburban yard, Hosta & perennial addiction 25 years ago, mature plants. Yep overcrowding does set in.
But I love the contrast of leaf and textures. I too don't like seeing the ground except for spring when everthing emerges.

With everything so close I simply move leaves above or below depending on what I want to see. I also remove leaves of all plants...including hosta's...if the need to showcase another plant. Actually hosta leaves do well in water as a cut foliage. So I enjoy them in the house as well as outside.

Also choose vase like hosta's in your yard. You will have space underneath them for other plants,smalls, minis and other perennials. It's a good look.

I like the lush yard.

hostared, I also use the leaves for vases in the house. I have a hosta-wreckin' raccoon that likes to lay on the big ones. When he breaks off the leaves, I stick them in vases. They last a LONG time!

I like to have my own little cut leaf contests and award myself ribbons. LOL

Thanks everyone - I like the crowded look too, but if this bed is only 3 years old I think it might be too much!

Ken - I was thinking of moving both FW to the new bed (larger one back right corner under the burning bush) - you think I should leave the larger one where it is? It won't take over the bed in a few years? :)

hostared and ademink - I also have little vases of leaves around the house - drives my husband nuts...

Hey digin....this bed was new last year..I need to move a few, but I like the crowded look too
{{gwi:1015946}}
Kymmie

I would move Strip Tease just a little to the right....and leave that bed alone....at least for another year.
We had a miserable winter and a late freeze and a few of my early emergering plants ended up smaller than last year....so I am glad I didn't divide.
I am finally aiming on a yard full of mature hosta...never to be divided...but just to grow to their heart's content.
Yeah! Right! So what do I do when I see a new "must Have"?
Anyhow, that's the way I am aiming.
Linda C

I've only been growing hostas,seriously for 4 years,and mine still aren't too close.I wish they were because I,too like them to be close together. Like Linda,we had a bad late freeze here this spring,and a lot of hostas aren't nearly as big as they should be for this time of year. I think your old garden looks just fine the way it is. I still am trying to plant more of them closer,so they will have that lush look. Phil

I've been gardening for years and years....but just recently got into serious "hosta-ing" as the trees have grown...in the last 6 or 7 years...
At first I just planted with the thought to dividing later when they got too crowded to be pretty....A huge job if you let it go like I did!
Then I realized how fery different a really mature hosta looks from one that has merely been in place for 3 years and gotten nice and full, so now I am trying to plan my plantings with certain hosta that will never be moved and I don't intend to prune away at them to reduce their size.
So I try to plant some things where they will stay and fill in for the meanwhile with things that will eventually go someplace else when they get crowded.
I learned my lesson when I planted Elegans and Sum and Substance 5 feet apart....and had to move the S and S!
So now there are a couple of Krossa Regal, blue Angel a couple of Elegans, at least 3 September Sun, Squash Casserole, Gold Regal and a couple of June and Fire and ice and Night B4 Christmas that I don't plan to ever move!...I hope!
LOL!
Then there's the "way down back" bed that I planted to look good now...it has an Elegans and S and S...as well as Clifford's comet and sting ray..minuite man and revolution, paul's Glory and lots of fillers like antioch, August Moon, gold Edger Birchwood gold etc....
Haven't yet decided where the "bones" of that bed are....but I'm thinking..
Linda C

when you are ready to move them ....see here now.. ken

Here is a link that might be useful: here