what are the trees... they can be IDd in the tree forum ...

where are you ...

what hosta ...

its either too dark.. limb up the trees ...

or its too dry due to super competitive tree roots ... get rid of the trees ..

another alternative is to grow in pots above ground.. under the trees ...

ken

upstatea NY Trees are maple and hemlock

ken, where's that photo you have of the maple tree roots? It's an eye opener.

bkay

neighbor had a new septic field dug.. here are the roots of a silver maple .. ken

My Schwedler Maple

My Sieboldiana Elegans

A big tough hosta can survive - Jon

I would take extra care to water the hosta...

Extra water for the Hosta means extra tree roots from the maple. You really need to water the whole area so the tree roots don't seek out the Hosta. Although, they will. And once they find it will send out roots to strangle it.

I agree with newhostalady. Pots are a good alternate option. I had huge poplars taken down which exposed some hostas to full sun for hours. I let them go for two years before digging them up and putting into pots so I could move them to more shade while deciding where to plant them. They look pretty good this year but are still smaller than when they were in the ground and had hot sun on them for hours.

Climax April, 2017 (I had the poplars taken down in June)

Around the time I had the trees taken down (early June 2017)

Still looked good in June 2018

July 23, 2019 they had to be dug up to save them as the drought and hot sun were taking a toll on the ones exposed to hours of full sun.

Love-hate relationship with trees.

I am having the same experience, but not necessarily under trees!
I was walking around just now, surveying Spring's progress and noticed a few just not happening. (The ones I don't care about, of course, are thriving!)
Several like my Sun Power, are just a few, small leaves this year. Normally, they're full blown giants!
I never knew hosta to dwindle.

yvn2000 also said "I have a hosta garden surrounded by trees." So it makes a difference as to which kind of trees, how many trees and the size of the trees.

Never underestimate how far tree roots can grow. I have a cedar hedge ( Thuja occidentalis) which has grown to about 12 feet. The roots extend about 10 feet out.

So Jon's Schedler Maple matures at 50 feet. My Sugar Maples mature at up to 75 feet. Larger tree, more roots? Then my two Sugar Maples are not more than 20 feet apart. So I have a double load of roots in my garden. So yyn2000 says his hosta garden is surrounded by trees. I imagine that the roots may be overlapping each other. A tough place to grow hosta well. Hosta pots above ground or in ground would be best. Plants known to be aggressive growers have grown best for me because they are tough and are controlled by the tree roots. They grow slowly under the trees. But I am a "hosta lady" so I want hostas---so I grow a lot in pots.

So what are your thoughts ynv2000?

I'm aware of what he wrote. I have an extensive Japanese maple collection, along with a red maple assortment, then every red crape myrtle hybridized. That said, my hosta are diminishing in odd areas. Thank you, though.

I had the same experience with maple tree roots choking out 21 hosta in the area of the Manitoba maple. Beautiful tree but the work of removing hosta and separating the hair like roots from each hosta was a 3 day or so job to the diminished sick hosta. Well over two heaping wheel barrow full of what I removed just from the plants that remained. Believe me that area is never having them planted there again. Live and learn , I was told when starting but did I listen?Nah, I had to make my own mistake. What did the experienced growers know? ha ha