Hosta Sum and Substance, Itea/Sweetspire, Kalmia/Laurel, and Dwarf Fothergilla Qs

[Anonymous]

Good morning,

I did some garden design using AI and came up the plants in the title for my front entrance backbone planting.

I didn’t look much into plant sizes as I gave Claude AI my 8.5 ft bed width and supposedly it took into account.

After buying the plants and looking at their labels I became quite confused about the spacing I need between them. I also became concerned that Hosta Sum and Substance may not be a good fit after all as in theory it can grow over the years 5-6 ft wide.

Are any of you familiar to how much these plants can actually grow in part shade? These is exactly what I bought:

- Kalmia Latifolia Laurel Pristine (3w per label)
- Hosta Sum and Substance (3-4w per label)
- Dwarf Fothergilla (4-5w per label)
- Itea Henry’s Garnet Sweetspire (5-6w per label)

Do you know if Sweetspire size can be kept on the lower side with annual pruning?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I had a very happy Sum and Substance in my previous house that grew to a 6-ft wide clump over 20 years. You can keep dividing hosta if they grow too big.

[Anonymous]

Everything but the hosta can be pruned as hard as you need, and you probably won’t need to prune them for a number of years. The hosta should be smallish for a few years, and then you can divide it if you need to (just put a shovel down through the middle of the going-dormant plant in November or so. Lever out the cut off half and replant it somewhere else, and fill in the hold with compost. Or pry the whole thing out, chop in half, and replant both halves separately.

[Anonymous]

Good luck with the kalmia, it can be finicky-- I've never gotten it to thrive.

[Anonymous]

Look up other hosta varieties that don't get that big.

Generally, that's too much to fit in an 8.5 wide bed. Print off some graph paper and play around with pencil ing in circles for plants.

I would go with a set of 3 shrubs that get 3 feet wide in the back, then some (about 9) perennials that are a foot or so wide and about 2 feet tall, and then an edging of small-mid hostas that are about a foot across.

Include something evergreen or with berries for winter interest.

It's a PITA to have to frequently prune or divide plants or move plants that were planted too close together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck with the kalmia, it can be finicky-- I've never gotten it to thrive.

Same. I killed one and then read it's Generally too hot here in the summer and they resent compacted soil found around most homes.

[Anonymous]

My kalmia is struggling as well. Killed one, the other is hanging on but not exactly thriving. Around here they will need some shade, lots of soil amendment, and extra water. And prayer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a very happy Sum and Substance in my previous house that grew to a 6-ft wide clump over 20 years. You can keep dividing hosta if they grow too big.

OP here. Thank you! Good to know that they indeed grow large. I will love it then to a location where it can grow undisturbed 👌

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything but the hosta can be pruned as hard as you need, and you probably won’t need to prune them for a number of years. The hosta should be smallish for a few years, and then you can divide it if you need to (just put a shovel down through the middle of the going-dormant plant in November or so. Lever out the cut off half and replant it somewhere else, and fill in the hold with compost. Or pry the whole thing out, chop in half, and replant both halves separately.

OP. Thank you! Good to know about can prune the shrubs and divide the hosta, although I decided to move it now, it will be easier. I am gaining gardening skills but I have never divided a plant! 😬

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck with the kalmia, it can be finicky-- I've never gotten it to thrive.

Thank you!

Where is/was your kalmia planted? Mine is in part shade.. although it may get some sun around midday. I had read about soil amendments but I thought that was overkill. Now I wish I had done those before planting. Did your kalmia have good drainage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look up other hosta varieties that don't get that big.

Generally, that's too much to fit in an 8.5 wide bed. Print off some graph paper and play around with pencil ing in circles for plants.

I would go with a set of 3 shrubs that get 3 feet wide in the back, then some (about 9) perennials that are a foot or so wide and about 2 feet tall, and then an edging of small-mid hostas that are about a foot across.

Include something evergreen or with berries for winter interest.

It's a PITA to have to frequently prune or divide plants or move plants that were planted too close together.

You are right. I will move the hosta now that it’s small.

I found a very efficient way to create a garden plan using Ai. Ask to create a PowerPoint slide with a garden layout (in my case a rectangle) and plants scaled to your needs. Just give your plant names and it will do the rest. In my case 0.5 in in the slide is 1 ft. Plants are color coded and you can create different versions playing with varying plant size, to account for best/worst case scenarios. This makes it easy to see the plan and how spacing and proportions will play out.

I used Claude, which I think is the best Ai for design.

I got the PowerPoint already but no time to play with it yet. Will do before finalizing my garden design and purchases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck with the kalmia, it can be finicky-- I've never gotten it to thrive.

Same. I killed one and then read it's Generally too hot here in the summer and they resent compacted soil found around most homes.

The Kalmia is supposed to be my best/most elegant plant by the house facade. I hope it survives..

What do you think yours disliked?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kalmia is struggling as well. Killed one, the other is hanging on but not exactly thriving. Around here they will need some shade, lots of soil amendment, and extra water. And prayer.

Where have you planted your kalmia? Any lesson learned? 🥺

[Anonymous]

OP here. Sorry about all the typos!! 🫣

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck with the kalmia, it can be finicky-- I've never gotten it to thrive.

Same. I killed one and then read it's Generally too hot here in the summer and they resent compacted soil found around most homes.

The Kalmia is supposed to be my best/most elegant plant by the house facade. I hope it survives..

What do you think yours disliked?

Too hot and the soil near most homes is more clay subsoil than nice rich hummusy topsoil that it grows in in the mountains. There are evergreen rhododendrons or azaleas that might be close in appearance but less picky.