Hostas are an easy care plant that can be enjoyed by gardeners of all skill levels and they can be quite beautiful to boot! Slugs and snails can be incredibly damaging to your garden, and their appetites are voracious.
There are several hosta varieties that have evolved over time to resist the damage caused by slugs, making them the perfect addition to any garden in your outdoor space while protecting it from those pesky bugs.
Keep reading to learn more about slug resistant hostas and how they can benefit your garden!
Which Hostas are Slug Resistant?
Are you looking for a healthy and tough plant that is also beautiful to look at? Slug-resistant hostas are one of the most effective plants on the market today.
In addition to being hearty and versatile, these perennials are low maintenance, offer color all season long, tolerate many different conditions such as dry shade or damp ground, and they’re even deer resistant!
Here are some of the hostas list which you can plant to boot up your garden and they will also work as a slug repellent.
Hosta June
If you have slugs or snails in your yard, they will make themselves at home in any garden with a water source and some vegetation. Hosta June is a great option if you are trying to avoid this problem.
This variety of Hosta has thick stems, dense foliage, and rugose foliage that leaves a slimy residue on the slug that makes it impossible to go up the stem of the plant. It also has oval-shaped flower clusters, giving it a graceful look even if there are no blossoms to view.
Hosta June is not just great at deterring slugs from infesting your yard-it’s also drought tolerant and survive in low temperatures so it can handle a range of conditions.
The low maintenance involved means that Hosta June is perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to spend too much time maintaining their plants.
The darker purple-colored flowers in the middle of summer create an eye-catching display, but are best seen from behind because they don’t bloom well from other angles.
Krossa Regal
Krossa Regal is a beautiful-looking plant that has a taste for slugs. It should be used in garden areas that have high slug populations. This plant can be used as either a ground cover or as a shrub and is a very hardy perennial that will grow well in the average soil.
These plants are readily available at nurseries across the world, so it is easy to find them near you! These plants require sun exposure and moist soil; however, they do not like being overwatered.
They can survive most frost spells with no ill effects on the leaves or flowers. The leaves of this plant come in colors such as yellow-green, gold, red-brown, purple-brown, and blue-gray.
Halcyon
Halcyon is a great option for adding slug resistant hostas to your garden. The foliage is a deep dark green, like other Hosta varieties, but it has purple or white flowers in the summer.
Hosta Halcyon will grow anywhere from six inches to three feet tall, so it can be planted as an edging or in small containers.
And its drooping leaves provide even more protection against slugs than most varieties of tall Hosta!
Halcyon likes moist soil and full sun, so water thoroughly after planting and make sure that there’s plenty of shade during the hottest part of the day.
Maui Buttercups
Maui Buttercups’ hosta is a fast-growing, upright hosta with wide, white margins. It thrives in moist soil with even moisture but is not susceptible to slug damage, so you don’t have to worry about the common slug damages (gray streaks and icky slime trails).
It takes on an attractive variegated coloration in bright sunlight during the summertime, before turning green as it matures. This year’s plants are enjoying their full 3 feet of height–ready to put on some autumn leaves that’ll still be green until winter frost arrives!
The weather has been very wet this spring and I’ve noticed more slugs around my property than ever before.
A few weeks ago, I took some time out to identify the less-slug-resistant varieties of hostas that were being eaten into submission by the slugs (Maui Buttercups included), then chopped them down at ground level while they were still green–saving myself all sorts of future grief!
Royal Standard
Eaton’s Royal Standard hosta is a hardy and versatile plant that can withstand dry conditions, mild shade, compacted soils, pollution, and varying light conditions. This slug-resistant hosta thrives in partial sun to full shade. It also tolerates drought with its deep blue-green foliage.
The Royal Standard slug-resistant hosta has a wide hosta canopy and would make a beautiful border plant or bedding plant that compliments annuals or perennials. These slug-resistant hostas are noted for their green foliage that emerges on copper red stems in the springtime.
They grow up to 18 inches tall with 16-inch width and have an upright growth habit. In midsummer, they produce large purple flowers and take around three years to reach maturity.
The height of this slug-resistant hosta ranges from 10 to 20 inches and it will spread over two feet when planted at ground level.
Its leaves measure between four and eight inches long by two to four inches wide with a slightly pointed shape and sometimes exhibit yellow coloration along the edges of the leaves.
These leaves turn golden yellow as fall approaches turning shades of purple before finally going dormant during the winter months.
American Halo Hosta
American Halo Hosta slug-resistant hosta is the newest variety of hostas that provide a defense against slugs and snails. The native of Maine and Connecticut, American Halo Hosta can be found throughout North America as it grows from zone 3-10.
With dark green hues and heart-shaped leaves, this plant has a beautiful heirloom charm to it. It’s attractive when first blooming in the early spring with vibrant chartreuse flower spikes that repeat year after year in the mid to late summer months.
An airy shrub to about 2′ high, this perennial thrives in most well-drained soils and is moderately drought tolerant once established. It likes moist soil but will also tolerate some dryness. As an added bonus, it provides excellent color contrast in the garden among surrounding trees or taller perennials.
American Halo hosta are best planted 4 apart with 12 spacing between rows. They require full sun exposure so they should not be planted too close to other plants and under trees because they will lose their vibrancy and vigor if shaded too much.
When planting, make sure there is good drainage underneath where you are placing them because these plants need moisture around their roots but do not like wet feet!
There is no need to water these plants often; overwatering may result in lush foliage but could result in stunted growth which can lead to disease problems down the road.
Are there truly sun-tolerant hostas?
The question of whether or not there are sun-tolerant hostas is not entirely straightforward. Yes, it is possible to have a shade-loving perennial that also tolerates the full sun.
The problem is that many so-called sun-tolerant varieties will grow beautifully in the shade but as soon as they get any direct sunlight, they quickly become unsightly.
If you want to grow a hosta in an area with only morning sun and afternoon shade, plants like ‘Angel Wings’ and ‘Empress Wu’ would be good choices.
For sites with more hours of intense sunlight, you should stick with varieties such as ‘Giant King’ or ‘Mont Blanc’. There are no guarantees, however, because hostas is very specific about their light requirements. You may need to try out several different varieties before finding one that does well where you live.
For those who live in areas with extremely hot summers, there is a new variety called Hosta lancifolia (formerly known as H.
Also Read – Are aphids harmful to humans?
Summary
Cultivating a pretty garden is great exercise and offers the opportunity to teach young ones about the plants and animals that share our world.
Plus, it’s just plain fun! If you want to protect your hard work from slugs, then plant some of these slug-resistant hostas.
They’ll give your flowers the best chance of a long life in the front yard or in containers on patios and decks. You’ll love how easy they are to grow, their adaptability to all sorts of conditions, and their year-round color.
Meet Tomas Clayton, a seasoned plant gardener who has been passionate about horticulture since he was a child. Tomas John developed a love for the natural world and a strong appreciation for the beauty of plants while growing up on a farm.
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