I love hostas, they are excellent ground cover, easy peasy to propagate and generally look after themselves. Slugs and snails also love hostas however, for totally different reasons. One day of rain and an unprotected hosta, freshly renewed after it’s winter rest, can be reduced to a stalk by the morning. Bastards. Yes I have tried to control by eco methods. I have tediously washed and saved crushed egg shells, I have tried grit, I have tried beer – die happy dear gastropods! But no, they are not terribly effective.
Guilty I have to admit that I use slug pellets. My love of hostas is greater than my principles. They are herbaceous perennials growing from rhizomes or stolons, so once you have a plant you should have it for life if you are careful. My favourite is the Hosta crispula, with the white tipped leaves. I watched Gardeners World and carefully noted how to propagate, then completely ignored it and did my own thing.
Most gardeners will tell you to dig up the whole plant and use two garden forks to split a clump in half. My arms felt weak at the thought of attempting that so I merely used a hand trowel and hacked bit off the edge. It works folks, and I was sure that the “mother” plant would be ok as I did not disturb all of its roots by taking the whole plant out of the ground. I think you will agree that this plant does not look like it has two offspring plants this spring.
If anyone has an easier way to propagate hostas I would love to hear about it, as that would give me more time to sloth in the garden…