I think its probably best to use emitters... water on the leaves can encourage problems sometimes and it will wash the 'wax' off of any blue ones you might have... making them lose their blue appearance and go-green faster.

I don't have the option, as our sprinkler system was installed first... hostamania came later. But if I had the choice I'd prefer a drip system for all the garden beds. And, if I ever win the lottery (but wait - I'd have to play the lottery in order to win, and I'm not a betting woman) but IF... then I would love to change it out.

hosta have a waxy substance on the tops of leaves ... its what makes the tops dullish.. and blue ... its called a glaucous coating ...

this wax can be worn off by weather.. rain .. and MISTERS ... never use misters ... besides.. wet hosta leaves attract slugs ...

under trees with competitive roots ... apple in my experience ... among others ... water ONLY at the roots of the hosta .. encourages the tree to grow roots in the hosta roots ... [also.. never fert just the hosta.. for the same reason ...]

so we are down to broadcasting water over the whole bed... but no getting the leaves wet.. which means.. by hand ... with a water wand .. imo ..

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=water+wand&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

this of course.. presumes you have few enough to do such ... lol ... in a small area ... rules change as numbers go up exponentially.. as well as garden size ...

ken

Thanks all for the responses.

I will admit its a bad, guilty pleasure that I do enjoy the look of plants right after being watered.

Thanks for the thoughtful advice Ken. My number at the moment is quite manageable to hand wand water.

I sound very old fashioned but most years I get by using watering cans..hoses are cumbersome and not long enough..during dry spells occasionally I've used a sprinkler to cover a bigger area..I have a water wand but that involves the hose..one tip that helps - I'll stretch the hose out and it's a shorter walk to refill the cans..I try to pour the water on the soil rather than the leaves..it sounds as if I don't need to water as often as some of you do..

It depends on what kind of soil you have. I‘ve used drip irrigation on my sandy fast draining garden for years. That system was destroyed when Hurricane Michael knocked down so many of my trees. It’s rained constantly since then so I’ve not been worrying about watering yet this year, but I’m going to go with some sort of sprayer instead of drippers when the weather puts me back into the watering business. The drippers just didn’t spread the water out.

I just want to chime in that I have hostas growing on the north side of my house that get morning light and a bit of afternoon sun. They get absolutely no irrigation whatsoever other than the sparse precipitation that we normally have here in high altitude dry Colorado. Occasionally I will hand water them in the heat of the summer with a hose. I guess my point is irrigation, especially in that shady spot, may not be necessary. Of course, most plants will grow bigger and bolder with a lot of water. But I am going to advocate for using less.

My other hostas get over spray from the sprinklers that water the grass every 3 days. And others have drip lines just because they were already there installed by the original builder of my house to water the hideous plants they had selected for my front yard. The drip plants also get watered only every 3 days as they are on the same schedule as the grass.

Most of my hostas are also on the north side of my house and don't get watered, but they are long-established plants; some have been there for 30 years. I did water when they were newly planted, and on and off for a couple of years, but not much after that, unless I was in that yard with a hose, for some reason. The garden they are in is also well-mulched.

I would guess that you are going to end up moving your hostas in the next couple of years, as they get bigger. If that tree they're next to is a maple, you may end up moving them sooner, as maple roots usually take over.