Re: Frost Heaved Hostas

Dan et al...
                I'm amazed that you get "frost-heaving in your neck of the woods Daniel? <->  what to me looks like a "Tropical Climate" over there in Delaware, Zone 7?  <just kidding> :)
                In my Zone 4; and particularly since, most of my first year seedling planting is done in mid-summer (roots don't dig in much) ; it seems, every spring after snow is melted away, plantlets are completely lying on top of the soil  (frost heaving is fairly heavy up here) HOWEVER?  One preferred bed, which I recently developed (1994) & am working in now -- on a 160 acre farm, (40'x600' hosta patch size) is directly adjacent to Woodlands running on a West through East parallel i.e. I'm planting hostas on  the north side of the forest.  This bed receives sunlight until 11 am; is in "THE SHADOW" of these trees for the rest of the day; the soil is like black gold from quadZillionyears of leaf composting from the trees -- hostas grow well there.
                Anyway, forgetting the preamble above, the point I wanted to make is that, I've noticed: small-seedlings planted in bed described above, show minimal frost-heaving; and I would deduce, this is because the ground is covered with a heavy layer of leaves at snow-time.
                I know what you mean?...it's a real drag, to shove thousands of seedlings back into the ground at springtime, but it is relatively easy, if one's back can handle the bending.  Using one's thumb to push the roots back into the ground goes fairly quickly. I generally leave the bud/eye (meristem) at ground level when I do this job.
                Don't have a mole-problem in the beds I'm working, knock on wood?

just a few thoughts

Bill Nash
--responding to--  
At 11:50 PM 2/13/99 -0500, Dan Nelson wrote:
I notices some hostas that had
>parts of their root system showing. It's looks like frost heave or maybe it's
>the result of winter rain washing some of the soil away from the crown. These
>crowns looked healthy despite being exposed. I covered these crowns with
>additional soil. This has happened is past years also. I am never sure if I have
>planted my hostas to shallow or if they are rising in the soil. It's only seems
>to happen to a few per year.
>
>I considered digging these hostas and re-planting them deeper but it seemed a
>lot easier just to put more soil over the top. I wonder what others do in this
>situation?
>
>Usually I try to plant hostas so that the top of the crown is 1 inch below the
>soil grade. Sometimes I think I go a little shallow when I plant a plant that is
>in full leaf.
>
>Is there anyone out there with an opinion as to the correct planting depth for
>hostas in the soil?
>
>How deep should a hosta be planted in a container?
>
>Dan Nelson
>Bridgeville DE
>zone 7
>SussexTreeInc@ce.net
>
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