Can you sort of dam up the water a bit, by pushing soil up on the downward side, and placing several
of your *free-roaming* rocks in front of the piled up soil to help hold a level spot that will
*capture* some of the downflow for a moment?

I think it may also help to make an indentation, in the surrounding soil, on the top side, to sort of stall
the water on it's downward journey, as well!

I do that in my sloping yard, and I believe it does help--or maybe it's just that at least I *feel* like it does,
since I've tried to make it a better situation! :o)

We have to try don't we?? :O)

janice

P.S. So just how many hosta would have to be addressed in this manner??

Oh, what a heartbreak.
Tell you what, out of the goodness of my soul I would be willing to take these problem children off your hands. For free, even. We all have to make sacrifices....

:) :) :)

I have some hostas on a raised bed that is sloping too steeply at the front, and am having the same problem. What Janice described is what seems to be working for me, especially the part about making a little dip above the hosta for water to slow down a while. In one place I added a good handful or two of rocks to keep the dip from closing up if there is a mini mud-slide. (Mulch will also slow things down)

Free-roaming rocks...I envision a herd of them galloping around the yard and grazing on gravel. LOL!!

Thanks,Janice and Chris! Mulching does help,but it ends up running downhill,too. Janice,most of my hostas are planted on a hill. The only ones that have a better chance,are the ones in whiskey barrels! They grow pretty good,anyway,and sometimes I just envy flatlanders! lol! I still wouldn't trade the south for the frozen north!lol! Besides,no one is posting anything interesting right now anyway. Phil

Phil, have you tried my method of putting a water reservoir under a plant.

With over 266 hostas,EO,it is not only ridiculous,it is impossible! Don't mind me,everyone! I'm just batting my gums! All of us grow hostas in our own way,I just happen to live on the side of a mountain,and most of you have no idea what that means! By the way,Chris,not am I not a problem child,but I haven't been a child for a lonng time! lol! Phil

Phil, I think Chris was referring to your hosta as "problem children"--and not many of us could
claim to be a "child" either! LOL At least not me anymore--since I now qualify for the senior's
menu at Bob Evans Restaurants! But, I do seem to be a problem*something* in my own
way--at times, anyway! Haven't you noticed that? hahaha

janice

With over 266 hostas,EO,it is not only ridiculous,it is impossible! Phil

Do you plan to plant anymore in the future, since you don't think it works it would be a good time to prove the negative.

We had our first rain in about 3 weeks and we needed it. I always make a reservoir around my new hosta to make sure the water stays where I want it.

Even us flatlanders have dips and valleys in our yards Phil! I feel your pain as I have seen your pictures and I would need a tow rope to get back to your house from the bottom of your "hill" garden.

I should water but I wait for nature to do that in most of my yard. The container hosta and the newly planted do get special treatment but not much else.

Connie

I do the same thing,Connie. I only water the newly planted hostas,until they "take",for want of a better word. I don't need a tow rope to get out of the garden,as I built a staircase with ten steps up to my driveway. I've actually quit putting hostas farther up the hill,as I'm getting too old to climb back up,and down from there. My newest garden is higher than the valley,but up there it sorta flattens out,and it is more reasonable. I only started this post to sorta flatter people with flat ground,but it's getting out of hand! My hostas grow just fine,and nobody has a corner on the market on getting every hosta to grow perfectly! I'll go away now. Phil

Phil, please read my replies as to everyone in general. If you ever take it personally then you've missed the point. For example; if you feel I'm telling you individually and personally what to do, I don't give a rats what "you" do, but I do wish you well.

My saving grace: Soaker hose! I've got one weaving through my hosta bed, one along the length of my hollyhock bed (across the back of our garage, which has an ugly block wall foundation that goes up about six feet before the actual garage wall begins), and one along the length of our privacy fence along the pool where I have morning glories planted (the privacy fence is completely covered with the MGs by mid-summer).

I'm so lazy that I even have a "quick connect" on the end of my soaker hoses!!! I can send my 7yo out with the instructions to "hook up the (insert name of bed needing water) hose and turn on the water for Mommy, please" without worrying about him having to tighten or loosen any connections -- just snap off the spray nozzle and snap on the soaker hose. :oD

Oh dear, Phil! I hope *I* didn't offend you!!! I was teasing you about not being
a "problem child", like me!!!I guess I need to be more careful of my *funnin'* folks!

I feel badly if you feel we picked on you! Come back--we love you, and you're one
of my personal *favorites* here--Okay?????

janice

and besides....you have some of the most beautiful gardens and nature scapes around. (Most of us would give our eye teeth to live on the side of a mountain....As though 'eye teeth' are a prize or something! LOL! )

You must be doin' something right! Keep on doin' what you are doin' and sharing it with us!

Phil,

Don't you dare go away unhappy!!! I enjoy everything you post and your pictures are so wonderful. How you can be so lucky to find hosta I'm looking for at the Big Box stores when I look all they have is the old stuff I already have. I am years behind the COLLECTERS but I still want a bargain and more than 3 eyes in a pot!!!

Connie

forget soaker hoses...

go for real irrigation .... i think john Deere carries a product named techline ....

irrigation can be as simple as buying and laying down the line... and fitting it with a coupler for your hose ... it doesnt have to be all that confusing, nor that big a project ...

engineered drip technology allows you to measure exactly what is being put down .. .25 gals per hour ... 4 hours.. one gal per emitter ... and then it would depend on your soil structure as to how long you really need to run it ....

lots more info .. if you are really interested ...

ken

Ken,
I'm interested. What is "techline" and how does it work? Where do you buy it? Don

Yes, Ken, please tell us more. And Esther Opal, I must have missed you talking about water reservoirs, so,I'd like to hear more about that as well. I have an isolated area that's hard to reach with hoses, so other options are always nice.

Awwwwww, Phil, you know there's no flat garden that can compare to the look of your hostas "pouring" themselves down those hillsides... worth the extra struggle! I like the suggestions from HockeyMom (soaker hose with easy couplers) and Ken (whole-hog irrigation, definitely in my future).

i have given you the link ...

how about you start a new thread [so replies come to you] .... titled DRIP IRRIGATION .... so when the subject rolls around again.. i can say ... use the SEARCH FUNCTION .... instead of highjacking this thread ... where a lot of peeps might have lost interest by now and wont come back.. etc...

will start formulating an answer and await the post ... ken

Here is a link that might be useful: john deere

Now I'm curious. where are those pictures of Phil's mountain garden?

For Chris,and those others who may not have seen it,here is a pic from last summer of part of my garden. It doesn't look this good this year,because of the nasty freeze in April. Some of these plants are downright pathetic this year,and some are as good as ever. Phil
{{gwi:885213}}

you were mentioned in another post.... follow the link .. ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link