Hosta can become an ornament and a small flower garden in the country, and thoughtful to detail landscape designers lawn. Its peculiarity is that with age it blooms even better. Therefore, preparing hosts for wintering is a very important event. This is especially true in the regions of the middle and northern regions. After all, despite the approval of some florists, that it refers to unpretentious flowers, in the harsh winter can die.
In this article we will study the main recommendations how to keep the host in winter.
How to prepare the host for the winter?
In order to keep the plant healthy in the spring, it is necessary to start taking care of its condition in the autumn. The main care for the winter for a host is to prune and cover it with special materials. It is also very important that the time is right for these events.
Let's consider in more detail each stage of the work, and also find out what to do is not recommended at all.
When to cut off the host for the winter?
All the circumcision of the hosts consists only in getting rid of the stalk on which the flowers were located. It is necessary that the plant does not begin to form seeds. This will save his strength. The remaining leaves should not be touched. For several reasons:
- This will be stress for the root system. If the pruning is carried out in the fall, the flower will begin to spend energy on their recovery, which will greatly weaken it, and it can die in the cold season.
- Leaves that are naturally dried will play the role of mulching material, which will increase the chances of the hosts surviving the winter.
Shelter hosts for the winter
Flower growers, who have been breeding hosts for many years, are recommended to use as mulch: dry peat, sloping grass, sawdust or thin branches of trees. They, in addition to a safe function during the winter, will become an additional organic fertilizer in the spring.
Mulching the soil at the landing site hosts the hosts until all of its leaves are filed and withered. For this procedure, a dry, frosty day is best.
We do it this way:
- a little bit of our flower is buried;
- under the leaves, around the hemp from the cut off stalk, scatter the mulching agent;
- pour it with phytosporin and sprinkle with tobacco dust (this will scare away snail slugs in early spring when the first new leaves appear);
- covered with lapnika or non-woven cover material (for example: you can use spunbond or lutrasil).
The sheltering hosts are simple enough, because you do not need to make any wooden frames, but you just need to cover the flower beds, where it grew, and then press the upper material along the edges and in the middle with stones.
What can not be done when preparing hosts for the winter?
- As it was said before, remove the leaves, even after they have dried completely.
- Make any fertilizer. After all, the plant must prepare for peace, and not for active growth.
- As a covering material, use polyethylene film or roofing material. Because they not only trap heat inside, but also do not let in air, which does not favorably affect the safety of the plant. They are also
favorite nesting place for mice, rats and other garden residents. - Conduct a transplant. Despite the fact that the host has a strong rhizome, it often turns out that it does not have time to take root before the first frost.
As you can see, for sheltering the hosts before the cold it is not necessary to use expensive materials, and all the required autumn care to the flower is quite simple. If preparing the hosts for the winter will be carried out correctly, then your beauty will annually please you with her flowering.