Thistle, you are truly turning over some new leaves in your garden. It must feel very liberating.

Free at last! Free at Last!
Good luck in realizing your garden reno ambitions.
If you have sun, there are some fragrants which step into the difficult spots (with adequate water) and will turn a bright light golden green in the heat. Not heavy substance as I'm sure you are aware, but they will be full of grace in the heat.

With Sun Power you are on the right track I think. Glad the yeomen undulata hosta are being offered to others, they can still serve useful purposes.

Congratulations on becoming a hosta connoisseur. That's a LOT of digging and lifting. You must have a strong back. Seducer is new for me this year and has already seduced me. I've had OBL for many years and when I had to divide her (she got too big for her pot) I couldn't bear to give away any of the divisions.

-Babka

Purging is such a good feeling! Have fun with it!!

Every so often I get the bug and get rid of an entire collection of something.
One year it was 12 different varieties of ornamental grasses. Hate 'em when they reseed everywhere.
One year it was every crape myrtle, no matter the size, that wasn't red or an eggplant purple. Can't stand pink and they're still reseeding all over.
Once it was (and is still) every ditch lily I planted because my now-ex-DH liked them. Got rid of him, now I'm working on those spreading lilies.
Then, I got rid of shrubs. I only had experimented with a few, and I'll be darned if this last winter didn't destroy them.

Then I got rid of everything that didn't have a label. Hosta, heuchera, Japanese maples, kniphophia, etc.

This year it's hellebores. Every single one of them that isn't a deep purple. I'm actually going to plant them on my roadside in hopes they'll choke out those @!@$!@** ditch lilies. A gudzillion 'Invincibles' are going to join them on the hill.

I, too, am purging and giving plants away on Freecycle. It's wonderful to see those stinkers go to good homes. :) I, too, am creating beds where I can put some of my beloved, interesting and beautiful hosta. Among other things!

Great job. I look forward to seeing your new and improved beds!

CEF- YES! You are speaking "gardeners speak". There is always something that is beconing. That is why we spend so much time outside. It wouldn't be fun if we didn't have something fresh and new every year.

-Babka

Undulata yadda-yadda. I don't blame you. It's your garden; if you don't like it, make it gone!!!

Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 2:25

I had to laugh. I was out putting down wood chips and I remembered another give away:

In November I gave away almost all my furniture. My SIL came with a U-Haul and 3 men to take it away. Right down to my kitchen cabinets.

I decided if I didn't love it, I wasn't going to keep things anymore because they're too good to throw away.

This week I have Freecycle people coming to dig out plants. Thinning again there, too.

You're an inspiration!

I got the "bug " this season too. Removed hosta seedlings this year, tired of looking at the same old, same old. Bought four new ones to add to my ten or so new ones i planted last fall. Had a hard tome getting rid of those seedlings in the past! Also have a bunch of daylilies. Got rid of most of my stella doros and have an eye on those Happy Returns that arent returning. Planted a vinch of new really cool daylilies. Moved some shrubs to make them and me happier. God, i am pooped, but much happier with the results. Should have done this years ago!

Sherry

For what it's worth department;Undulatas will thrive in full sun with no shade whatsoever. One of our rest areas here in western NC has them planted there,and they are huge! Everyone should have a few of them. Phil

Oh yes - daylilies! The week before I ripped out all those hostas, I was one tier down on the same bed (it's a two-tiered bed that turns into a 4-foot retaining wall) ripping out every orange "ditch lily" the previous owners had also planted. They didn't belong in such a structured spot. The flower stems would get so long they'd bend over and lay across the steps and all the leaves just looked messy.
I spent a whole day tearing those out. I tried to give them away but no takers, so off into our "yardy bins" they went and the city took them away. That was a LOT of work and I could tell by all the root bits left behind I may be digging those up for years to come. They started to grow everywhere, even places where there was no dirt. Frustrating.

In place of the ditch lilies, I uncovered 2 hosta I didn't even know where growing under that jungle! I'm not sure what they are - could be gold standard and blue cadet. Kind of small for a gold standard, but they were hidden and competing with all those lilies. Time will tell.
And I had room to plant two new Liberty and a nice June.
There's even more to tackle in that upper tier - a whole half of the bed is still crammed full of blue cadet and a tiara (I think it's golden tiara) that are just smooshed in together. Part of of the poor tiara is growing out from under the blues. I'll have to do some major thinning. Maybe when I rip out some other undulatas from a hillside I can transplant some of the blues and the tiaras to those spots. Those old undulatas get massive - over 4 feet across each and I have SIX of them to remove. Better do it while my back is still strong. :)