Hosta

Minder

I have a very badly damaged Hosta in a border - more holes than a swiss cheese plant. The Slugs and snails have really gone to town on this poor plant. Can it be salvaged or should I leave it as a sacraficial plant. Would cutting it back to ground level in winter help it or kill it?

bmaxi

Minder wrote: »

I have a very badly damaged Hosta in a border - more holes than a swiss cheese plant. The Slugs and snails have really gone to town on this poor plant. Can it be salvaged or should I leave it as a sacraficial plant. Would cutting it back to ground level in winter help it or kill it?

Take steps to deal with the slug problem and just leave the plant alone. It will die back itself and come again next spring.

Minder

From what I know of Hostas, they don't die back. If I Cut away all the damaged leaves in the winter, it will have no leaves - will that kill it?

As for the cause of the problem, I have traps, copper rings, coffee grinds and nematodes all doing their best to decimate the mollusc population in my garden, the damage to the hosta is old damage.

newbie2

Hostas are herbacious. it'll die back over the winter. Start slug and snail control as early as late february next season. i'm a big fan of the blue pellets. they're not "organic" but they do the job.

Minder

Okay, I stand corrected, thanks for the replies. I'll leave it as is and see if it will recover next spring.

Dizzyblonde

I had so much problems with slugs and snails that I took up my hostas and put them in large pots. They looked great and it was much easier to cope with the pests.
Hostas disappear completely until the spring when they peep up through the soil.