welcome pete ... be ready for TMI ... lol .. get ready to be enabled ... lol ...

where are you... sun intensity is the issue ...

most hosta dont spread like other perennials ... so im wondering what you mean by that ... maybe they are doing what they are supposed to??? .. some do spread somewhat ... but that can take years ...

any chance at some pix???

what is causing the roots .. some trees are much worse than others ... and have to be taken into consideration ....

they can be planted any time you want ... with the caveat that mid summer is hard.. as they are water hogs ... and in some areas.. its just not a great time... they wont die ... they just might not look pretty after being burned to a crisp .. and the tree roots can interfere with water hogs ...

we have quite a list of favored vendors ... mail order is the way to go.. if you want some of the newer better stuff ... too many bargain places just dont pay off in the long run ...

since xmas.. the forum ran thru the alphabet on pix of plants... if you scroll down.. i am sure you can waste a day miking a very long list of plants you would like.. lol ...

check out the link below.. many good informational links.. but dont use it as a shopping list.. many are not nor never have been available ....

we could start .. with pix.. by IDing yours ....

ken

http://www.hostalibrary.org/

In relation to the link Ken provided, on the front page, middle column, you will see Rawsons Lists. These lists help with knowing categories of hostas. Among them are hostas that are “sun” hostas” which could tell you hostas better suited for your sunny space, if that is the main problem. Good luck!

Ken and Djacobz, Thanks so much for your advice. When I said "spread" what I meant was that the plants stayed small rather growing large, broad leaves. I'm also in Michigan, and the area faces south and east. The roots are from a nearby tree (I believe maple). I took some pictures of what I can see now. So if order hostas it is okay to plant now?

For me, in Milwaukee I will not plant any new hostas until mid to end of May. Mine are just barely starting to pip, 1/2-1 inch. Companies you order from won’t even ship until it’s appropriate to plant them in your zone.

those look more like tulips to me ....

and they degenerate over the years.. especially in shade.. so why not dig them up and see if you can find the bulbs .. and then throw them out ... lol .. hosta do not have bulbs ...

now is a great time to plant hosta ... you can plant them anytime.. but i suggest you skip the high heat of late july and august.. for your purposes ... unless you can water them often ...

ken

These are some questions that come to mind:

Do you know what varieties you have in that location?

How much sun does the area get?

How big is the maple tree and how close is it to your garden? (I would try to find out whether it is a maple for sure.)

How is the drainage in that area?

If you haven't seen growth after a year or so and they " looked pretty stunted and haven't spread," then I would be concerned that my new purchases would do the same. I'd want to "fix" the problem first.

Hi Pete,

Ken is onto something there, those are definitely tulips.

Maple roots, especially silver or Norway, can make life miserable for growing hostas. I’ve given up on hostas in a good portion of my yard due to Silver Maple roots. They’ll do fine for a couple of years if the soil is well amended but decline each year after that for me no matter how much I water. My S&S went from 6’ wide to 2’ and is over 7’ three years after moving it. You can see it in the background in this pic. Had to move all of these hosta’s in the last 2-3 years, away from the maple roots and they are happy again. Obviously this pic was taken last year.

Ken, Thanks. Yes, I don't have a very green thumb and just took a picture of what I could find, but that said there definitely are hostas that come back in limted form in the area.

Newhostalady, I would say the tree is about 7-8 feet from hostas (guestimate). It gets quite a bit of sun -- I assume more earlier in the day as it is on the east side of the house. I'm not sure what kind of hostas I currently have. If I can find some (that aren't tulips) I'll send a pic.

Mac48025, I believe the tree at issue is a Silver Maple. Can I ask what you replaced the hostas with that were close to your Silver Maple?

I guess in general does anyone have thoughts on what I can start doing now? Plant new/additional hostas? Amend the soil? Try to dig out some of roots? Plant something amongst the stunted hostas that may do better in this environment. Basically, i'm not a dedicated or knowledgeable gardener but since i have more time at home I'm more motivated to work on this.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Tulips, me too, but I didn’t want to be the first one to say it!!

I see hosta pips among the tulips. And the brown spikes look like last year's flower spikes. Pete, keep an eye on that spot. There be Hostas.

Definitely see pips under the tulips and the dry flower stems of last year.

You say the plants stay small, no big leaves. This is dependant on which varieties you have.

They come in giant, large, medium, small and mini sizes.

Post pictures when you can and I'm sure you will get all the advice you need from the people here who have tons of experience and knowledge.

Dave

Mac48025 -- your garden looks great. Can I ask what the light plants in front and the bluish ones behind them are? If get something else for the area is it okay to plant now?

Also, if it would make sense do anything to soil now (amend, put down fertilizer etc.) -- the weather is still not Spring-like where I am (a bit of snow this morning).

Thanks Pete. The yellow plants in front are Hakonechloa All Gold with Japanese Painted Fern behind them. They were newly planted at the time of the pic and are under the canopy of a Silver Maple. That bed goes from mostly shade to full sun after the ferns. The blue plants are Ageratum, an annual flower.

Snowed a bit this morning at my place also. It would be fine to work on the beds now but all of the landscape supply business and plant nurseries are closed in Michigan until May 1st. At least of governor didn’t stop the sales of liquor, cannabis or lottery tickets so we have other vices to pursue should we wish. 😃

I’d caution against planting any greenhouse grown plants outside now as they’ll be susceptible to frost and I don’t plant annual flowers here until Memorial weekend. I envy those in the south that are enjoying their gardens already.

I try not to fertilize, heavily water, or disturb the hostas during the pipping or early into the leafing out phase. They seem more prone to fungal disease and crown rot at this phase, in my experience. I think others have found this problem, too.

I look forward to seeing what type of hosta you have growing in your garden.

I didn’t realize that undertheoak, thanks for sharing. I move my hosta’s so often I think they’re immune to most transplanting problems 😁

Hopefully Pete’s hostas arent as frost damaged as many of mine are right now. My poor Liberty looks fried and this mornings snow after a sunny 60 degree day Sunday didn’t help.

Underoaksgardner7b thanks for the help. Is it okay to weed around them or will that cause a disturbance?

Gentle weeding around them should be fine. Try not to step on, lean on, or otherwise squish the pips. It is OK to water if the soil feels dry. Wet soil tends to stick to your hands, while dry soil dusts off easily.

Mac, in NC 7B we have Southern blight (sclerotia). When I first started gardening, I noticed that plants tended to die in the areas that I watered. I was taking care not to water until the top 1-2 inches of the soil were dry. As I learned more, I discovered the blight. I believe Michigan is hosta-utopia.

I also noticed what I called the "combination of stresses" hypothesis. I found that a plant could handle one thing being wrong temporarily, but died quickly if 2 or more things were wrong. For example, a plant could be over-watered occasionally, but not also be in too little or too much sunlight. If the plant were situated in sub-optimal light (part-shade when part-sun preferred), watering had to be perfect. Horticulturalist and botanists can explain this better. I am an amateur gardener. It saddens me when plants die, so I like to learn from my mistakes.