Growing guide

How to grow hostas

These shade-loving plants are primarily grown for their beautiful foliage. There's a vast range of cultivars to choose from, with leaves in all shades of green, as well as dusky blues and acid yellows, sometimes variegated or flashed with cream or gold, ruffled, smooth or distinctively ribbed. Many also produce small trumpet-shaped mauve or white flowers in summer. Hostas are notoriously irresistible to slugs and snails, but are also much loved by gardeners, who often amass large collections.
 

Save to My scrapbook

Quick facts

  • Easy to grow
  • Bold foliage from spring to autumn
  • Plants last for many years
  • They love shade
  • Plant in spring and autumn ideally
  • Tidy up dead foliage in late autumn
  • Make new plants by division in spring or autumn

All you need to know

Before you get started
Planting
Ongoing care
Pruning and training
Propagating
Problems
While we think all this information will be helpful to you, we always recommend to read the instruction labels on your plants.

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.