Hostas are useful, hardy perennials for filling shaded or secluded areas of the garden with lush foliage in various shades, shapes and sizes. They provide not only greenery and texture to a shaded space but also nectar for pollinators with their bee-friendly blooms in summer. They can grow in pots or borders, providing the soil is rich, free draining and doesn't completely dry out.

Hostas are fully hardy perennials and will grow back every year when they're happy in the growing conditions. They are very low maintenance and each year will grow back bigger than the year before.

How to plant:

— Hostas are supplied as bare roots in spring for planting between February and May. They must be planted soon after delivery as bare roots cannot remain fresh in storage for long without light and moisture. If you can't plant on the day of delivery, remove the plants from the packaging within 1-2 days and place in a bowl of water outdoors to soak, then plant within a week.

— Hostas are hardy to around -15C. They can be potted up and positioned outside to grow on through spring and don’t require any frost protection.

— Bare root hostas should not be planted directly into borders where the young shoots will be at risk from slug damage. Additionally, there are various other factors when planted directly into borders which can cause bare root perennials to fail. To greatly reduce risk of failure, they should be potted up individually into 15-20cm diameter pots with multipurpose compost and grown on in a sheltered part of the garden for a few months until they are a little more established before transferring into borders.

— Hostas look great in patio containers. If you intend to keep your hostas in a patio container, there is no need to pot up and grow on first. You can plant directly into a 30cm+ diameter patio container filled with good quality multipurpose compost. Whether potting up first or planting directly into a patio container, ensure the roots are fully submerged in the compost and the bud is level with the soil surface, then water thoroughly.

— If supplied later in spring, bare roots will arrive with pale shoots or leaves. Plant with the roots fully submerged in the compost and the shoots/leaves exposed above the soil surface. They will soon colour-up and continue to grow after being exposed to daylight. Water thoroughly after planting.

— After potting and growing on, when your Hosta plants are ready to transfer into a border, choose a partially or fully shaded position with rich soil that doesn't frequently dry out. Space the plants 20-30cm apart. Add multipurpose compost to each planting hole to help the new roots grow.

— Monitor your new Hosta closely during the first growing season, ensuring the soil is kept moist, more established plants or weeds are not encroaching into its space and also checking for pest damage.

Aftercare

— Remove the flower stems after flowering to tidy the overall appearance of the plant for the remaining part of the season.

— In autumn, Hostas will naturally die back completely. You can allow the leaves to wilt and rot away, or cut them back to ground level when the leaves fade. The plant will become dormant for winter. The following spring, new growth will start to emerge again.

— Hostas should always produce leaves in the first year, usually by May when planted in spring. The foliage is the main feature and flowers are less significant, however flowering may not occur until the second or third year.

— Hostas are clump-forming perennials which grow back larger and with more leaves each year. You can divide established Hosta clumps between autumn and early spring when needed.

— If slugs are causing damage to your hostas, try any of these slug deterrents: Copper tape around pots, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, crushed seashells, straw mulch or beer traps. You can also look out for slugs and snails at night, picking them off your plants by hand. You'll usually find slugs hiding under leaves, under pots or under damp surfaces like wooden planks and logs.

— Read further general instructions about planting bare-root perennials