My Gold Standard hostas have done well for 20+ years. I've divided them a few times. They are planted on the east side of the house, at the base of oakleaf hydrangeas.

Here's a closeup of one (near an oakleaf that is not doing so well):

On the north side of the house, wedged by our front steps, is a Sea Monster that has also done well for years. I bought this in the mid-90's when we made a stop at a grower's in Ooltewah TN on the way home from the Smoky Mountains.

Lemon Lime has also done well near the house. This is at the southeast corner, under a holly tree. I divided these recently; three large clumps resulted in 12+ decent-size divisions.

I've had a few volunteer seedlings pop up around the house too. This one is my favorite; it's a vigorous grower, and this is after taking some divisions too:

Another seedling. I think the parent of this one might have been a mislabeled plant I received years ago that appeared to be Ginko Craig. (The GK is one of the few hostas near the house that has not survived.)

This one might also be a Ginko Craig seedling. It's much smaller than the one above.

Then there's my Sum and Substance grouping, which I've posted about before. These are the two healthy plants; these are on the west side of the house.

My hosta failures near the house include several undulata under a Bloodgood Japanese Maple; the maple really took off and I think the hostas just couldn't take the roots or the shade. I also had some Frances Williams on the north side of the house that were burning, so I moved them to one of the shady areas where the vinca took hold. I thought they had died out, but I discovered one still hanging one -- after at least 20 years. I've moved it to a new area where I'm hoping it might do ok.

This new area is my latest project. I think it may be worth its own thread.

A couple more hostas that are just hanging on in the shady vinca-filled areas, after 20+ years:

Blue Angel

And this NOID; this is after I dug a few eyes to try out in my new area.

I’ve not had trouble with vines necessarily but plenty with maple roots outcompetlng the Hosta for water. Had small successes using pots dug into the ground and using landscaping material to make Hosta safe zones. Eventually gave up those tree berms and made a giant hillside Hosta patch.

Ben D..welcome!..you're in the right forum..we have lots of knowledgeable hosta owners..
where do you live?..it's helpful to know your location..
I have a wooded lot too..I've lived here 16 years..the house came with hostas but I planted a lot more..most have done well..like you vinca, hellebores, pachysandra, lamium etc are crowding the hostas..I've started clipping..it's still cold and damp in Indianapolis..I haven't been digging or moving any hostas..some need more sun..some need more space..can't wait for warmer temperatures so I can get started..

I have several larger hostas in patches of vinca and they do fine. In my initial yearly weeding I do clear out around the base of the hostas- trimming back the vinca and making an effort to provide growing space for the hostas. But it fills in quickly during the course of the growing season so my subsequent passes to clear out weeds do involve a bit of vinca maintenance as well.

You just have to stay on top of it.

I meant to mention I'm in north Alabama, zone 7b,

Peren, you are correct, those are Gold Standard; I have no idea why I typed what I did. Time to try out the edit function...

welcome ....

start new post for IDS ... only 1 or 2 IDs per post ...

i dont think either of those are gingko craig .. but i dont want to bury a discussion of such in your welcome post ..

ken

Welcome, great to have you here. Nice work so far. I agree its probably a combination of things (shade) but the roots are the worst.

Welcome! I was in zone 7b for my previous house(Atlanta suburbs), now I’m in 7a. Similar to your place, my last house had significant woods. I found that hostas do not enjoy being in the midst of groundcover plantings like ivy or vinca. One of the reasons why many of my hostas ended up in pots. I found that pots gave me the ability to move the plants around without all the constant digging. And pots allowed me to bring color to the garden. This is a pic from my last house, just before we moved. This bed originally was covered with ivy. It was cleared when we listed the house.

And some of those same pots moved to the new place.

Pardon the sun exposure I just ran out front to take these. This area gets sun until about 1130 and then shade the rest of the day.

I’m looking forward to where you go with your plans. You have a great spot imho.

Welcome, Ben. Glad you joined our forum. Your yard looks like a great place for plants to grow. The pictures help a lot. My Japanese Maple has lots of roots, near the surface, of course that tend to stifle the hostas near it. I have just a couple within 5 feet of it and they would probably do a lot better if they weren't there. My Frances Williams is shaded by a large star magnolia and oaks. After many years, it has finally enough shade not to burn. It was the first hosta I bought. I didn't buy any more for a long time since I didn't want a lot of burned out plants in the yard. I also grow Linda Sue, a sport of Frances Williams, it is in a lot of shade and it still burns. It started out in dappled sun and I kept moving it deeper into the shade but even that doesn't help. My experience with ground covers is negative. I have ripped out tons of wild violets, ivy, vinca, lamium and that horribly invasive chameleon stuff. I have given up trying to tame ground covers. In my yard, they tend to overwhelm everything and I don't have the time or energy to keep hacking them back. I think that if you use pots then the hostas aren't overrun but otherwise they do require work. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Welcome to the forum Ben! There are lots of knowledgable people here. What great areas you have all around the house and lard yard. I don’t understand why you think that one plant is not doing well..... it looks very healthy to me. I agree that tree roots and the vinca will choke back hostas. I had my own nightmare with ground cover. Planted it all over and three years later I was yanking it out because it was choking hostas.

debra

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

Debra, that Gold Standard normally would be half hidden by an oakleaf hydrangea. It's the hydrangea that's not doing well. The hosta looks great -- it's the best view I've had of it.

Ken, I'll share an ID request when I have flower photos. The two small green hostas, though, are volunteer seedlings. I'm guessing their parent was a now-deceased Ginko Craig.

Chameleon plant is my most hated ground cover foe due to its deep roots and pernicious smell. I’ve never had it hurt the growth of a medium or larger Hosta. Having some luck with sedum in spots and it’s easier to manage. My best ground cover success in my Hosta beds are native fens. Have 8 different varieties I can dig behind my house. Lady in Red and Maidenhair ferns are favorites. Sensitive fern can be very aggressive though.