How and When to Cut Back Hostas in the Fall

Find out when to cut back hostas and how to help these plants overwinter well.

When leaves on trees start showing fall colors, hostas also start turning vibrant yellow, soft orange, and muted brown. As you work through your fall garden cleanup, you may be wondering when to cut back hostas, especially if their leaves are putting on an autumn show. Enjoy their warm hues for a little while, but then get out your pruners because these perennials grow best when cut back in fall. This guide explains how and when to cut back hostas so they’ll come back strong and healthy in the spring.

Related: 26 of the Best Hosta Varieties for Your Shade Garden

Wait for a Hard Freeze

The optimal time to cut back hostas is after the foliage has been killed by a hard freeze. Several brief frosts will likely blanket the garden before a hard freeze kills the foliage. Many hostas weather a brief frost well, remaining upright and thriving. It’s not until a hard freeze descends that the leaves will fall into a pile around the crown of the plant. A pile of dead hosta leaves is a sign to grab your pruners and get to work cleaning up the foliage.

Resist the urge to get a jump start on fall cleanup. Hostas are actively growing if their foliage is alive. Cutting back plants before the foliage is killed by a freeze limits valuable root growth that sustains the plant through winter and prepares it for next spring.

Don’t Delay Until Spring

Most perennials are best left standing all winter and cut back in early spring, but that isn’t the case with hostas. Their decaying foliage is an invitation for pests and diseases to take up residence in the crown of the plant. Some rodents, such as voles, are attracted to the leaf mass that makes a fine winter shelter. Slugs frequently overwinter in hosta foliage only to devour the plant in spring.

Nematodes and a variety of viruses commonly plague hostas. Cut back and discard foliage after a hard freeze in fall to prevent these microscopic pests from multiplying. Plant scientists routinely find that fall cleanup makes a big impact when controlling diseases in hostas.

Related: 12 Perennials to Cut Back in Fall

How to Cut Back Hostas

Using a pair of sharp bypass pruners, cut foliage back to about 2 inches above the soil line. Do this quickly by grabbing a large cluster of stems in one hand and making the cut with your other hand. The short hosta stems that remain after cutting back will remind you where the plant is in spring, potentially preventing you from disturbing it as you work in the planting bed.

Related: The 12 Best Pruning Shears of 2024 to Keep Your Garden in Check

If any hostas show signs of disease, such as mottled foliage or puckered leaf surface, disinfect the pruners by wiping them down with rubbing alcohol or dipping them in a 10% bleach solution between each plant. Discard any infected foliage; don’t add it to a compost pile.

Fall Hosta Care Tips

Hostas are easy-care shade perennials, but they do benefit from a little maintenance in fall.

1. Time it right.

Keep an eye on your hostas as fall progresses. As soon as the foliage is limp from the first hard freeze, cut back the stems to 2 inches above the soil line.

2. Be mindful of disease.

Don’t spread disease when cutting back hostas. If disease is present or you have a feeling it might be, clean your pruners with a disinfectant between plants. Rubbing alcohol wipes makes it fast and easy to clean pruners as you go.

3. Clean up leaves.

After cutting back hostas, watch for leaves from nearby trees or shrubs collecting around the cut-back stems. Every week or so, rake leaves away from the stems and add them to your compost pile. Layers of soggy fallen leaves on top of hostas can cause the plants to rot and mold over winter.

4. Mulch fall-planted hostas.

Newly planted hostas benefit from a 4-inch-deep layer of shredded bark mulch over the cut-back stems. The mulch insulates the tender plant and helps prevent damage from freeze-thaw cycles. Be sure to pull the mulch off the plant in early spring before new growth appears.

5. Consider pest pressure.

If small critters like voles and mice are problematic in your garden, take steps to protect tender hosta stems and crowns, which can become a cold-weather buffet for these animals. Cover the plants with hardware cloth if needed.

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