AUBURN – Russ Moors’ Park Avenue lawn is a hosta hotbed.
There are more than 350 (mostly) green varieties, no duplicates. Some have leaves bigger than a dinner plate, others are smaller than a button. All clamor for attention.
“If you don’t care for them, they’re going to tell you about it,” he said.
Moors and his wife, Joan, already big iris and lily growers, got into hostas in the 1990s. The number of varieties available in the past two decades has just exploded, he said.
Inventors get to name their new plants, leading to unconventional monikers such as Patriot, Striptease and Carl; Shiny Penny, Thunderbolt, Feather Boa and Lakeside Lollipop.
Each of the ones in this garden is labeled close to the ground. The color palette ranges from velvety blue to pale green with yellow and white accents, sometimes within the same plant.
Hostas are “heavy feeders,” he said, that prefer rich soil. He starts each bed with 6 to 8 inches of horse manure, then compost, then soil.
Above ground, he battles their enemies: slugs.
They leave holes in hostas. Moors tries to keep them at bay with tiny pellet repellent and a shallow copper fence. (They don’t like the sharp feel on their bellies.)
A secondary battle: turning away moles.
They don’t eat plants, just make a mess of things in their search for grubs.
Weeds are kept in check with the liberal use of pine needles from East Waterford. Moors said he passed a house with a huge old pine grove in front several times before he finally asked the owner, “Do you mind if I rake your lawn?”
Ever since, he and Joan have collected 40 to 50 bags a year and spread them around the plants. The needles trap moisture and keep weeds from establishing deep roots.
Routine care in the summer consists of watering and plucking away dead leaves and flowers.
Moors, a member of the Maine Hosta Society, looks through catalogs to keep on top of styles and varieties. He’s been eyeing 15 to 20 new plants. With space at a premium, the same number will have to go.
“You have to be a little vicious sometimes,” Joan said.
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