Pruning Hosts in Autumn: Benefit or Harm?

Hosta is one of the most popular plants in gardens around the world, adored, above all, not for flowering, but for the luxury of leaves. But there are so many myths about caring for her!

Having studied enough materials about hosts in scientific and botanical books, I tried to answer the question - what does autumn pruning bring them more harm or benefit?

The arguments against

Hosta is a plant that is sensitive to stress caused by any damage. Naturally, autumn pruning can be a real shock!

The host directs resources for recovery, and there are very few of them left for preparing for the winter, so she risks freezing out.

The hosta's root system lies close to the surface of the soil, so in theory, wilted greens serve as a natural insulation. When a layer of snow falls on top of uncut foliage, it will create a natural “blanket”.

In general, if the hosta is cut off, then you will have to take care of mulching and covering with non-woven materials.

The dead foliage of the hosta decomposes during the winter, turning into a nutritious fertilizer, similar to compost. So in the spring you can get an excellent top dressing for young greens with absolutely no hassle.

Arguments for

Withered leaves are cut off first of all so that they do not create favorable conditions for the wintering of pests and the development of pathogens.

However, the hosta belongs to those plants that are extremely resistant to such attacks.

So it is really necessary to remove the dry aerial part of the hosta if harmful insects or signs of disease were previously noticed.

If the hosta is not cut off, then due to the whole mass of wilted leaves, it may not be very convenient to apply autumn fertilizers, and not only mineral fertilizers, but also according to folk recipes.

It so happens that winter, with its gorgeous, fluffy, snow-white snow, is late, and the owners of the garden have a house with it for permanent residence.

Then, unshorn hosts, unfortunately, can spoil the landscape - after all, the leaves from dampness turn into an unaesthetic brown mass and simply get in the way if you need to work in a flower garden. So for a neat look, you also need to crop sometimes.

Summing up

Personally, I tend to believe that the less work in the garden, the better!

Having studied the existing facts, I advise you not to prune the hosta unless there is a special need to do so, because this can increase the chances of the well-being of this amazing plant!