New here hope someone can help me. Moved to current house about 5 years ago with a long yard [50x300']. When i moved in i planted a hosta [no sure of id], but it's grown hugh, well over 6' diameter and tall. It has large bluish leaves some with of the leaves having yellowish centers. Its a great plant but i want to move it but dont want to kill it by accident. Question is does moving a big hosta hurt it and is there a good time to do it? It was planted under a big Norway maple that was rotting and replaced with a coral bark jap maple. It looks funny as the hosta dominates the area as the tree is only about 6' tall.

Welcome to the site!

A pic of your hosta and a general geographic of your location is helpful.

@jpm995 to the NGA!

Early fall is probably the absolute best time to tackle transplanting hostas, because soil is still warm from long summer days, which means hosta roots will grow quickly. Spring transplanting also works fine as long as you wait until soil has warmed up a bit.

SonoveShakespeare said: @jpm995 to the NGA!

Early fall is probably the absolute best time to tackle transplanting hostas, because soil is still warm from long summer days, which means hosta roots will grow quickly. Spring transplanting also works fine as long as you wait until soil has warmed up a bit.

If i move it in spring can i do it before it leafs out? I'm zone 7, Long Island. I think it would be a lot easier to dig up and move before those big leaves spread out. Thanks so much for for sharing your knowledge.

crawgarden said:Welcome to the site!

A pic of your hosta and a general geographic of your location is helpful.

I'm on Long Island [zone 7]. Have to figure out how to post pictures.

jpm995 said:
If i move it in spring can i do it before it leafs out? I'm zone 7, Long Island. I think it would be a lot easier to dig up and move before those big leaves spread out. Thanks so much for for sharing your knowledge.

That's when I move mine. You won't ruin the looks of the plant, and they're a lot easier to divide if you want more plants.

Thanks Rose, i'll take a pass on dividing though, one monster is enough, i never dreamed it would get so big.

Everyone already gave you good advice . so I will just say good luck with it.

NJBob said:Everyone already gave you good advice . so I will just say good luck with it.

Thanks Bob, think i'll wait till next spring, i'm falling behind with the yard work already, weeds are out of control.

Would like to see a picture , only really big one that is blue with yellow center I can think of is Dream Weaver.
https://www.nhhostas.com/dream...

The good thing is that hostas are pretty bullet proof, I have moved them in the spring, summer and fall and so long as they get watered in well, they will survive. I'm with Bob, would like to see the giant hosta!

Hope these pics post.

Another pic. She's about 2.5' tall, over 6' wide.

Might be a large Great Expectations that is reverting to Elegans. Nice looking plant.
Looks like there are a couple of other nice sized Hosta in that garden.

Thanks Bob, the one right behind it is my favorite, Stained Glass. It's a decent size but is dwarfed by the big one. Theres a mouse ears back there but its invisible. The big yellow one to the left is pretty, not sure of the name. I never considered max size when i planted these, live and learn.

Beautiful! When it comes to moving hosta that big I'm glad i have sandy soil!

I'll move it straight back in front of the shed. Where it was was shaded by the big maple tree but now it gets lots of sun. The new jap maple only gets 25' tall and offers little shade. Probably put in a hydrangea in its place or maybe even a rose bush.

Welcome to the site, jpm. That is one big plant. However, it is sporting to solid blue and if you want to keep the variegated parts of it you will NEED to separate it at some time because the solid blue will grow faster and eventually overwhelm the variegated parts. And if you decide you DO want to divide it by colour, that's much easier to do in autumn because you can easily see what you are doing. If you decide simply to move it, do so understanding that you will eventually have a solid blue hosta. To move it during the season, you need to dig a large root ball and an equally large hole at the new location. I saw a thread on FB a few days ago of someone moving a huge hosta and once they had it dug, they wrapped plastic wrap around the leaves to keep them together and minimize damage to them during the move. That's not as critical in autumn when they are declining anyway. When you do move it, ensure that the new location has enriched soil and water well and you should be fine.

ViolaAnn said:Welcome to the site, jpm. That is one big plant. However, it is sporting to solid blue and if you want to keep the variegated parts of it you will NEED to separate it at some time because the solid blue will grow faster and eventually overwhelm the variegated parts. And if you decide you DO want to divide it by colour, that's much easier to do in autumn because you can easily see what you are doing. If you decide simply to move it, do so understanding that you will eventually have a solid blue hosta. To move it during the season, you need to dig a large root ball and an equally large hole at the new location. I saw a thread on FB a few days ago of someone moving a huge hosta and once they had it dug, they wrapped plastic wrap around the leaves to keep them together and minimize damage to them during the move. That's not as critical in autumn when they are declining anyway. When you do move it, ensure that the new location has enriched soil and water well and you should be fine.

Thanks for the info, i had no idea that would happen. How can i tell if i split it what part is varigated. I've had the plant for 5 years and haven't noticed it changing.

Beauty and nice bed also!