How to grow hostas? Planting methods for the shade-tolerant ground cover plant hosta
Hosta is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), with large, unusual leaves that are glossy and emerald green. The flower scapes stand upright above the foliage, and both flowers and leaves are beautiful. It blooms from July to September, with flowers as white as jade and fragrant, making it a lovely, elegantly simple summer ornamental flower. Today there are many horticultural varieties, and the many variegated foliage cultivars enrich the visual appeal.
Hostas can be propagated by sowing and by division, and some new horticultural varieties are also propagated by tissue culture. Hostas produce very few seeds; harvest them after autumn when the seeds are ripe but before the seed pods split open, then dry and store them. They can be sown in early spring of the following year, in February to March; seedlings grow slowly. Division is the main method of propagating hostas. It can be done in both spring and autumn: in early spring before growth begins in March to April, or in autumn after the leaves turn yellow. Take out the roots and cut them with sharp shears at the places where the root nodes are sparser, keeping 3 to 4 buds per piece, and at least 2 buds. Division preserves the fine characteristics of the variety, and growth is fast, so it can bloom in the same year.
Hostas especially love shady, moist environments. Under strong sunlight radiation, their chlorophyll is damaged, the leaves turn yellow, and the leaf edges dry and scorch. In landscaping, they are best planted under groves of trees, or in the shade of buildings (on the north side) to set off the architecture, or planted beside rocks, and they can also be grown in pots.
Planting methods for the shade-tolerant ground cover plant purple hosta
Purple hosta is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), mainly distributed in the wild in gully edges and shady, moist places under forests in East China and Southwest China. It likes a warm, humid climate, prefers shade, and dislikes long periods of direct sunlight. Its tillering ability and cold hardiness are extremely strong, and it is not strict about soil. It grows well in ordinary soil types. It turns green in early to mid-April, blooms from June to July, and when flowering the scapes emerge from between the leaves; the flowers are rather small and light purple. The fruiting period is August. From late September to early October it enters its withering period.
Purple hosta is mainly propagated by division, repotting and transplanting in spring and autumn. After transplanting, purple hosta is extremely easy to establish and shows results quickly.
Purple hosta has a strong ability to adapt to the environment and requires only rough management. It has great ornamental value and greening function, and can be widely used in shaded places such as under overpasses and elevated bridges, in courtyards, residential communities, parks, and open spaces under greening trees.
Planting methods for common shade-tolerant ground cover plants
Like other plants, shade-tolerant ground cover plants have many functions: regulating environmental temperature and humidity, absorbing and breaking down harmful gases and dust, purifying the air, and balancing the oxygen and carbon dioxide content in the air. At the same time, they make up for the shortcomings of other plants, growing well in areas with little sunlight and in shady, moist environments, and playing a good role in soil and water conservation. Using shade-tolerant plants for shade greening is an important measure for increasing green area, beautifying and adding fragrance, and improving the ecological environment. Here are several common shade-tolerant ground cover plants:
1. Ardisia japonica. An evergreen small shrub of the genus Ardisia in the family Myrsinaceae, also called laowuda, dijuizi, pingdimu and other folk names, and it is a Chinese herbal medicine. The plant is 10 to 30 cm tall, with leaves that are nearly leathery, glossy green on top and pale green beneath. It blooms from June to September, with small white or pink flowers. The fruiting period is August to December; when ripe the fruit is red and remains on the plant for a long time, quite beautiful.
Ardisia japonica can be propagated by sowing, division and cuttings. According to records, seeds of Ardisia japonica do not germinate in the same year; they only germinate in May to June of the following year, and the natural germination rate is very poor, generally only 3% to 5%, so treatment with sulfuric acid is needed. Division is usually carried out in spring and autumn: cut and divide the rhizomes, making sure each section of rhizome has a branch, then plant them in prepared containers or on leveled ground, keep them moist, and they will establish in about 20 days. If using cuttings, cut branches in May to June, about 5 to 8 cm tall, remove some of the old leaves, insert them into a prepared cutting bed, keep the leaf surfaces moist and the medium moist, and they will root in about 1 month.
Because it mostly grows in shady, moist environments such as under forests, in valleys and beside streams, it is extremely shade-tolerant and is an excellent foliage ground cover plant for shady, moist environments. It is mostly used under groves of trees and in shady, moist places among shrubs, and is a new favorite ground cover under urban overpasses and elevated bridges. It can also be used for potted viewing and for planting in rock gardens, flower beds and flower borders.
2. Purple hosta. A perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), mainly distributed in the wild in gully edges and shady, moist places under forests in East China and Southwest China. It likes a warm, humid climate, prefers shade, and dislikes long periods of direct sunlight. Its tillering ability and cold hardiness are extremely strong, and it is not strict about soil. It grows well in ordinary soil types. It turns green in early to mid-April, blooms from June to July, and when flowering the scapes emerge from between the leaves; the flowers are rather small and light purple. The fruiting period is August. From late September to early October it enters its withering period.
Purple hosta is mainly propagated by division, repotting and transplanting in spring and autumn. After transplanting, purple hosta is extremely easy to establish and shows results quickly.
Purple hosta has a strong ability to adapt to the environment and requires only rough management. It has great ornamental value and greening function, and can be widely used in shaded places such as under overpasses and elevated bridges, in courtyards, residential communities, parks, and open spaces under greening trees.
3. Hosta. A perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Hosta in the lily family (Liliaceae), with large, unusual leaves that are glossy and emerald green. The flower scapes stand upright above the foliage, and both flowers and leaves are beautiful. It blooms from July to September, with flowers as white as jade and fragrant, making it a lovely, elegantly simple summer ornamental flower. Today there are many horticultural varieties, and the many variegated foliage cultivars enrich the visual appeal.
Hostas can be propagated by sowing and by division, and some new horticultural varieties are also propagated by tissue culture. Hostas produce very few seeds; harvest them after autumn when the seeds are ripe but before the seed pods split open, then dry and store them. They can be sown in early spring of the following year, in February to March; seedlings grow slowly. Division is the main method of propagating hostas. It can be done in both spring and autumn: in early spring before growth begins in March to April, or in autumn after the leaves turn yellow. Take out the roots and cut them with sharp shears at the places where the root nodes are sparser, keeping 3 to 4 buds per piece, and at least 2 buds. Division preserves the fine characteristics of the variety, and growth is fast, so it can bloom in the same year.
Hostas especially love shady, moist environments. Under strong sunlight radiation, their chlorophyll is damaged, the leaves turn yellow, and the leaf edges dry and scorch. In landscaping, they are best planted under groves of trees, or in the shade of buildings (on the north side) to set off the architecture, or planted beside rocks, and they can also be grown in pots.
4. Ferns. Most ferns have fairly strong shade tolerance, as well as strong adaptability and resistance, and can survive in poor environments, especially in places where the soil is rather barren, sheltered and unsuitable for cultivated plants. In these places, using ferns for landscaping and greening is the best choice, and ferns grow fast and have strong reproductive capacity, so a green belt landscape can quickly appear. South of the Yangtze River, plants such as Dryopteris, Pteris, Matteuccia, Humata, Diplopterygium, and Pteris multifida are simple to plant and require only rough management, and they quickly form a landscape.
At present, ferns used in commercial landscape applications mainly rely on wild collection and sporophyte division for propagation. Wild collection causes serious damage to wild fern resources and the ecological environment, and division has a low propagation coefficient and poorer ornamental quality, whereas ferns produce a large amount of spores, which is an effective way to rapidly breed seedlings.
Several terrestrial ferns such as Pteris multifida and Cyrtomium have strong alkaline tolerance, strong resistance and require only rough management, and can adapt to almost all soil types. Cyrtomium can be used as a ground cover plant along greenbelt roadsides, at forest edges and under forests. Pteris multifida has a delicate, supple form, and when appropriately combined with stone features it can achieve a unique landscape effect; Cyclosorus and Parathelypteris are especially suitable for planting in large patches in green spaces, with a fresh, pleasing green color.
5. Indocalamus. Broad-leaved indocalamus is a shrub-type bamboo of the genus Indocalamus in the grass family (Poaceae), with a plant height of 0.5 to 1 m. Indocalamus is native to East China, Central China and other places, with abundant wild resources and a fairly wide distribution, and it is also cultivated in Beijing and areas to the south. It has strong adaptability, is relatively cold-tolerant, likes moisture and tolerates drought, is not strict about soil, and can grow normally even in mildly saline-alkaline soil. It likes light and tolerates partial shade.
Indocalamus can be propagated by sowing, division or the buried-rhizome method. Among these methods, the buried-rhizome method is the most commonly used, and the survival rate is also relatively high.
In landscaping it is mostly planted under open forests, and can also be planted along riverbanks for bank protection. The culms can be used as brush handles and bamboo chopsticks, and the leaves can be used for bamboo hats, boat awnings and wrapping zongzi.
6. Mock strawberry. A perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Duchesnea in the rose family (Rosaceae), growing on hillsides, roadsides, in grass and in shady, moist places. Mock strawberry grows quickly and has a strong ability to cover the ground. Its leaves, flowers and fruit all have relatively high ornamental value. The flowering period is April to May; when it blooms, little yellow flowers dot the plant one after another, breaking the monotony of green and giving a sense of the vitality of life. After the flowering period, it is covered with small strawberry-like red fruits, quite enticing. It has strong stress resistance and requires only rough, simple management, with no need for pruning, making it a rare new and superior ground cover plant.
The seed germination rate of mock strawberry is very low, usually no more than 10%, but its asexual reproductive capacity is very strong. For artificial lawn establishment, whole plants can be transplanted, or the entire creeping stems and branches can be separated, or cut into stem sections 20 to 35 cm long and buried in soil 3 to 5 cm deep, keeping the soil moist; in about 3 months a lawn can be formed.
Mock strawberry has relatively strong vitality, is evergreen, fast-growing, with bright flowers and beautiful fruit. The plant is short and grows creeping, and is relatively tolerant of trampling. It is suitable for planting on slopes, under forests, in courtyards and other places, forming a rather distinctive greening landscape and enhancing urban wildness, making it a rare and excellent ground cover plant. One place where it is already widely used is Shanghu Park in Changshu, Jiangsu.
7. Farfugium japonicum. A perennial evergreen herbaceous plant of the genus Farfugium in the aster family (Asteraceae). The leaves are bright green and glossy, and it blooms in late autumn with yellow flowers. It likes semi-shade and moist environments, fears direct sunlight, and is cold-tolerant, able to overwinter outdoors in the Jiangnan region.
It is commonly propagated by division. In spring, when repotting and changing the soil, shake off the old soil after removing the plant from the pot and divide the clump into 3 to 4 parts, potting them separately. It can also be cultivated in the open ground; after planting, management can be relatively rough. In winter the aboveground parts die off, and in the following spring it will sprout and unfurl leaves on its own. Farfugium japonicum can also be propagated by sowing seeds, sowing in a seedbed in early spring each year and transplanting into pots after the seedlings emerge.
Farfugium japonicum seedlings must not be too wet, otherwise they are prone to disease.
It is suitable for large-area planting as ground cover under forests or under overpasses, in shady, moist places at forest edges, beside streams and gullies, and beside rocks. Here are several specific ways to use it: plant it on the north side of buildings, especially the north side of high-rise buildings; plant it in moso bamboo forests, sweetgum forests, or mixed deciduous and evergreen forests as ground cover for scenic forests; plant it on the north side of rock walls, or in the shaded corners of building walls; plant it under elevated roads and overpasses to form a shade-tolerant flowering ground cover.
8. Glechoma. Glechoma, also known as fo'er cao, jinqian cao and other names, is a perennial creeping herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The leaves are opposite, with long petioles, and the leaf margins have rounded teeth; both surfaces have short soft hairs on the veins. The flowers grow in the leaf axils, 2 to 6 in whorls, labiate, light purple or pink, with a flowering period of March to April. Glechoma is scattered under trees, along roadsides and beside streams, and likes shady, moist environments. There is now a horticultural variety, variegated glechoma, whose growth habit is like that of glechoma, with white edges on the leaves.
Glechoma is pollinated by insects, and after the seeds mature they can naturally fall to the ground, but because its creeping stems root at each node, asexual propagation is relatively easy. For artificial lawn establishment, the creeping stems can be cut into sections and inserted as cuttings, generally 2 to 3 nodes per section, no fewer than 2 nodes. Ensure soil moisture in summer, and they will root in about 10 days and form a good landscape effect in about 1 month.
In early spring, the small purple or pink flowers of glechoma dot the green leaves, filling the gap at this time of year when most grass species have not yet turned green, and adding a touch of color to early spring.
The several plants above all have wild resources distributed in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, which is also one of the main sources of materials currently used in landscaped green spaces, but this method cannot be used for the long term; ultimately artificial cultivation and propagation are still necessary. Moreover, excellent varieties of shade-tolerant ground cover are still very lacking. Therefore, researching fast and effective propagation methods for shade-tolerant plants and continuing to develop native shade-tolerant ground cover are important tasks for the next stage. As urbanization advances and urban building density increases, a large number of shady environments appear, and the required urban greening coverage rate is also getting higher and higher. Whether it is rooftop greening on high-rise buildings, greening and leisure plazas in city centers, or areas under overpasses and elevated bridges, all these places need greening. Groves of trees are also one of the major directions of today's greening, with notable ecological benefits. Greening under groves of trees and under overpasses and elevated bridges is an important part of urban greening, and the important material for greening these areas is shade-tolerant ground cover plants.