Too much shade- lack of colors

[thy]

Please help me

My best hosta friends have a huge lovely garden and 800 + hostas, but this year something was not as good as normal. I visited the garden several times during the season and had the ame feeling, but didn't know why, until a month ago when I got a hosta from them. I was a Valley's Cute the Cute and for my son... he saw mine and for the first time he said... Ohhh, that's a great looking one- mine was banana yellow and the new one I got for him was nearly all green.
Mine grow in full sun ....

So here it is, he love trees and during the years he had made shade stuctures for his hostas, but the trees have grown and most of his garden have shade, may not be a big problem for some of you, but here up north, the colors fade, the blue miss the note and the yellow get greenish and ... just, the colors are on most hostas not perfect.
The hostas still grow, they just miss the extra.

We are friends, but garden friends who can speak of more than gardens and enjoy the compagny
How to tell them- mostly him, to cut down some trees, or "cut " - if possible- some up ?
Or better to keep my big mouth shut ?
What would you do ?

Pia

[renaldo75]

I'm sure you'll find some subtle way to say something, Pia.

[Linda P]

I will have the same problem here one day, Pia. I had to plant all my shade...there was nothing but sunny areas here when we moved in.
I planted and planted and planted. You might say I overplanted.
Now that the trees are getting some size, there are spots that are too shady. I need to prune out some things next year, at least
remove some limbs so more light can get in.
I don't know how you would bring this up. Maybe they like the more monotone look in their garden?
I moved my Valley's Chute the Chute from full sun into a half-sun spot this year, and it really doesn't keep the color as long
there. I think it will go back into the sun next year.

Linda P

[Ginger]

Show them some pics of gardens with some of the same hosta that get more sun and see if they like them. If so, advise them that if they cut down, or back some of their trees, their hosta will get more color. Might work???

G

[gamekeeper]

"Leave sleeping dogs Lay"

[Marlys]

Thy - I was at a garden consultant class thing recently. This really nice gal was speaking and she is a gardener but more vegetables, containers maybe. She is university staff but a good / interesting speaker. Well she kept saying "hostas love shade". Then went into a discussion about the same sort of thing you are talking about, hostas that do not thrive. I finally could not contain myself, I told them all, hostas are shade tolerant plants but hostas do not love total shade. Hostas like high dappled shade with allot more filtered sun than one might think. And as you say, some like allot more sun than others.

A good friend of mine with a hosta garden also experienced "too much" shade. Her plants that were once huge and flourishing became weaker looking and did nto increase in size / some decreased. Her trees and shrubs had gotten really over-grown. Well the electric company did some trimming along the roadway. She was all upset but I tried to tell her the hostas would be happier the next year. And they were.

MM

[thy]

Thank you for your thoughts and replies
Good thing you agree with too much shade.
I never forget when Kent told me Icould not get any blue wax in my shade and Hanks PODS, he really opened my eyes telling how much sun his Fire and Ice got. Mine was in nearly full shade and had never grown to more than a tiny one eyed plant, hes was beautiful - in 4 or 6 hours full sun
I moved mine and it became a little beauty.
They started my latitude thing

I will find a way to tell them. They started their shade and wind protection nearly ten years ago, still need some wind protection I agree, but have too much shade... I tell you how they react when I have the currage to tell them... it will be with in 2 weeks

Pia

[renaldo75]

I'll be waiting for the update.

[thy]

LOL
Took him for a walk in the garden, talked about the last hostas to go down and their fall snowdrops and cyclamen.

Then i told him abouth my concern, how I did not knew what was lacking in the start and then found out, it was the lack of sun doing the color of the hostas.
He just looked at me, told me he knew - smiled and showed me a new tree going to be 100 feet

I need a smiley showing an angle with black wings smashing someting in the head of an other one