Are these well established hostas? If so, anytime is usually OK, but I am not familiar with zone 8. Taking a couple of pictures and posting them here would be a good idea. You could find out that something else is going on with the hostas.

djacobz568sewi

"Are these well established hostas?"

Well they have been there for a couple of years but they struggle terribly. They always sprout late and stay small all year.

As for as the weather here, it was 95 degrees today and will be for several more days. It starts cooling off mid to late September.

Ok, so they are established hostas, but have always struggled. Do you know the names? And once again, a couple of photos with either measurements of the leaves and over all plant size would be very helpful. Or you can place a common item, like a soda or beer can in the picture with plant so we get an idea of how they look overall. There are some real experts on this forum who could say by looking perhaps, what the problem is, if it isn’t crowed roots.

Hostas like water so if they're languishing under your tree, time to move them. I've moved them in hot weather, but waiting for cooler weather has its benefits for you and the hosta. But you can do it now if you want. In hot weather I fill the hole with water first, but my sandy soil drains quickly. .........Have you seen this post about moving large hostas? Moving fully leafed out Hostas

Adding on... darn photobucket. It was easier to understand with pics, but still very helpful.

It comes down to how do you want them to look from transplant to next season? You can dig them today and they will wilt (lose turgidity) and look like H-E-double hockey sticks until they go dormant. OR you can wait until it cools down and move them (6 weeks before freeze at a minimum) and they will only look terrible until then. I would suggest you start watering them LIBERALLY now--until you move them-- as it sounds like they need the energy for the move. No matter when you choose, next year they will come up and look GREAT--it's a pretty fail proof plant. 20 years ago I began and followed the directions in the above link OFTEN too many times now to believe. Promise; they will be great NEXT YEAR.

My experience is that if i DON'T follow the instructions link, I ended up apologizing to the plant EVERY day until it goes dormant! I was too lazy to get the tape and rope, thought it was a short move, what the heck!

Funny thought, one house move later and I am thinking about moving the same plant today. Thanks, David, this time I will get the rope and tape!

move them when the temps break a bit ... since you are so far south ...

i do like the link above... lol ...

if you do do a poor job moving them ... but do provide enough water ... so what if they look ugly for the rest of the year.. they should be all set next spring ...

this is prime root growing time.. where they store energy.. in new roots ... for next spring ... but for your heat ....couple of weeks later shouldnt matter much ....

ken

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I think I will wait till the temps start to drop a bit (this was my original plan). I just wanted to check to make sure.

I have checked the above link but I assure you mine is nowhere near that large, the rope would be over kill for these plants, a small string would be better, lol.

As for the looks, I'm not at all worried about that, I just want to give them a good chance for next year. I also think they were planted too deep in the beginning which may be why they are late in coming up. I kid you not but two years ago I thought they were dead and in early June purchased more to replace them with only to find that when I dug in the area and came upon one of them it was there and just starting to sprout. This year they were a little earlier but just didn't do well at all in spite of watering regularly. I think this tree has such a large root system that it just takes all the moisture. Since this tree was planted back in the late 80's it has been placed on the invasive list in a lot of areas.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I'm in 8a. There is no way I would attempt to move anything until the heat breaks. It will not break to 80 degrees in the daytime here until mid October. Instead of moving them this year, consider getting them healthy with lots of water and moving them in the spring when they begin to pip.

Be aware that the fine folks who are advising you to move the hosta live in zone 5 or 6 and don't have any experience with hosta in zone 8. Actually, my experience is only with hosta in pots. However, I don't even repot my hosta in the heat. I do it all in the spring. Most folks in the higher zones do the same.

With the big leaves on hosta, they transpire lots of water. That's why it's so important to keep them hydrated. If you do a great job of digging them, you'll still lose lots of roots. I don't think you can compensate for that loss when the days are 90 degrees and the nights are in the upper 70's, unless you get lots of rain in the summer in your area. We don't.

If you wait for pips in the spring and move them with a good amount of dirt (if possible), they should do well (if you've chosen varieties that do well in warmer areas). The spring rains will help you compensate for root loss.

bk