A storm hit a 100+ year old oak tree at church, the rest of it is coming down as I type. All the plants under it and in the court yard it shaded are shade lovers, and my husband and I are in charge of the gardens. I'm just sick. Hostas are the foundation of most of the beds, they will be in full sun now. Any suggestions on saving them? Thanks!
tree comes down, shade turns to full sun. Help!
I'd look for a shadier spot to plant them if possible--if this were a very temporary situation you could probably rig up some shade cloth, patio umbrellas, etc to provide some temporary shade, but even if you go out and buy a new large-ish tree to put there, it'll be many years before it provides anywhere near the same amount of shade that you have now. If there's nowhere else to move them to, maybe you could work with the church members to organize a plant swap--they can have the church's shady plants in exchange for some sun-lovers that you can put in the bed. The only other solution would be if you want to put in some sort of more permanent roof/shade structure over the courtyard--if that's an option then rigging up some temporary shade until you can get the shade structure in place could be a workable solution.
Hi, Cathy (fellow St Louisan...).
I wouldn't panic yet.
I took down 3 big Bradford pears a few years ago.
They too had hosta beds underneath. Suddenly full sun, same as your situation.
Of course I panicked, but alas for me, panic doesn't always translate into immediate action.
It's now 3 years later, the hostas have never looked healthier.
True, they get sunscorched by August, but they are vigorous.
This spring, they looked fabulous.
Don't stress the timing.
Whenever you get around to it, you can move them.
But you don't need to worry about the health of the hostas in the meantime.
They may look ragged, but they'll be fine.
I had a problem like this in part of my garden. In 2007 we had a drought and at the same time the electric company cut down a tree next door so the garden when from lots of sun to nuclear furnace. Nearly everything died. I moved a few things into "holding pens" - temporary raised beds that were shaded by fences or buildings.
I found a gazebo someone was giving away on Craig’s List and I made a shade cloth cover. I positioned the gazebo so that it lets in morning sun but shades the area in the afternoon.
You might try something like this.
This is a photo of the gazebo.
This is another part of the garden. It gets lot of morning sun and then goes into the shade in the late afternoon. The area has a steep slope so I put in some steps.
Wonderful ideas, I just love your yard!
Your yard look really pretty. Great idea using the shade cloth on the gazebo. Do you keep it on there over the winter? Just wondering because I have a big shade cloth that came with my greenhouse but I don't use it. DH has been thinking of other uses for it. We could use some shade on the patio.
Thanks for the comments about the yard. This area was destroyed in 2007 by a drought and it just came back this year.
The shade cloth comes down in late fall and goes back up in late spring. Before paying full price for shade cloth, I would check ebay and craigslist.
I've never taken mine out of the box. We have an odd shaped, mortared patio with limited spots to sink posts. Will have to investigate the possibilities. I like the idea though.