Beautiful Homes

Question: I just moved into a home with all kinds of beautiful landscaping...?

There are hostas planted on either side of a walkway, and the hostas have grown so large that the walkway is now shrinking to almost nothing. I know absolutely nothing about gardening and I am wondering how I can cut these back properly without digging it up completely..Any advice??

Answer: Hello Jaime,

Congratulations on your new home !

It sounds like your Hosta plants need to be "thinned" out .
Here is an option to "thinning" your Hostas until Spring :

The easiest thing to do,is to remove some of the foliage stems from the outer edges of the whole plant ie; the front and back sides of the plant .
To do so, use pruning shears or manual hedge trimmers and cut the whole foliage stem back to 1"or 2" above the soil .
NOTE: If the Hostas have other plants that are planted directly behind them,then there is no need to cut back the Hosta foliage on the backside of the plant.

Thinning is best done in the Spring,and the correct way to thin,is to dig up the plant and divide.
See link at the bottom.

Since you're a beginner gardener,"thinning" may seem like an intimidating task .
Don't worry,it isn't difficult at all,but it is time consuming.
After your finished thinning ,you'll have a lot of extra plants for propagating !!
Don't throw them away,instead,offer them to family,friends,neighbors or freecycle them on your local freecycle Yahoo Group .

I do landscape design for my neighbors, friends and family.
If you have more questions,feel free to email me, at [email protected]

Happy Gardening !

Regards,
Martha

Beautiful custom built home in Navarre,Florida