Don’t Let Winter Damage Your Hostas—A Gardening Pro Shares 6 Ways to Protect Them From the Cold

Key Points

• Stop voles early because hidden root feeding can keep dormant hostas from returning in spring.

• Clear dead leaves and nearby litter to limit overwintering pests and fungal problems.

• Shelter container hostas from the cold because their roots lack the insulation garden soil provides.

Hostas are very hardy plants that survive winters in as low as USDA Hardiness Zone 3 . However, they are not immune to winter damage.

Young newly planted hostas and potted hostas are especially vulnerable, but older, established plants are also prone to pest damage at this time. To ensure your prized hostas make it through the winter, we asked a pro for his top tips.

Meet the Expert

Jason Sarine is the founder and owner of Humble Hen Farm and Nursery in New Castle, Virginia.

Deter Voles

One of the biggest threats to hostas over winter is voles , according to Jason Sarine, founder and owner of Humble Hen Farm and Nursery.

"Voles will create a colony in a bed, make underground tunnels, and eat the plant roots. And it's easy to miss the damage because the hostas are dormant and have no leaves to show distress, but the plants will just not come up in the spring," he explains.

He recommends looking for half-dollar-sized entry holes in the soil and acting quickly to trap and relocate the voles .

"Baiting is the most effective way to get rid of a colony, but it's controversial," Sarine says.

Push Crowns Back in the Soil

If hostas are planted too late in the season, Sarine says they won't have a chance to put down roots before the ground freezes and the crown will push up out of the ground.

Once it's exposed to air, it can get damaged by the cold. His advice is to regularly check on hostas that were planted late and, if you notice them popping out of the ground, step on them to push them back into the soil.

Mulch Around the Plants

"Mulching is always important for weed suppression and moisture retention, and fall is a good time to reapply mulch after the leaves of the hostas have died back," Sarine says.

However, he says hostas are quite cold hardy in much of the U.S., where it's not an absolute necessity.

Even then, they may benefit from mulch in late winter or early spring. When hostas are pushing out new growth and a hard freeze is predicted, mulch such as wood chips or a layer of leaves will protect the tender new growth against the cold.

And Sarine points out that there is a correct way to mulch hostas, though.

"Make sure not to pile mulch over the crown; leave a slight gap so that the mulch is not sitting directly against the new shoots that come up," he says.

Cut Back Dead Foliage

Slugs, snails, and fungal diseases can overwinter in the dead foliage of hostas so it's a good idea to remove the leaves after they have naturally died back after the first hard frost. Use sanitized pruning shears to cut the stems down to about 2 inches above the ground.

Remove Debris Around Plants

Slugs and snails typically lay their eggs in damp, protected places like leaf litter and the soil surface where they overwinter and then hatch in the spring. Rake leaf litter away from your hostas and scrape the top inch of soil around the crown where eggs may be present.

Give Potted Hostas Extra Protection

Potted hostas are much less hardy than those planted in the ground because the roots are insufficiently insulated against the cold.

There are different ways to winterize potted plants . You can move the containers to a sheltered area, such as an unheated garage or shed. If the pots are small enough, you can also sink them into the soil.

Another way is to group pots together and pile up a generous amount of mulch, such as wood chips, around them so that the pots are all but buried.

Read the original article on The Spruce