We had some work done on our retaining wall in November. My mature hostas were over wintering already. During the wall repair a lot of soil got dumped on them and compacted down. I mentioned that there were hostas under and the landscapers assured me they will pop back up again in the spring. I know its a little early still to look for signs of life but it should be coming soon and I'm worried it is to much and too heavy of soil. Should I go digging them up to be sure? I'm also worried about damaging them if I dig. How deep can hostas be buried and still come up?
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Boo to the landscaper burying your hostas! I would try to dig them out.
Hostas are tough and yours might make it, depending on how deep and how compacted the soil on top is. But they will be fighting the entire time, and you will have weaker, disadvantaged plants because of it. Hostas like to have their crowns right at grade.
You can damage them from digging, but again, they are tough. I think an accidental stab from a spade would be less of a disadvantage than being buried alive, for a hosta or for a person.
As for how deep can they be, I have planted hostas 3 or 4 inches too deep, and they made it but were obviously struggling next to the ones I planted correctly. That was in light, uncompacted soil.
MackM
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