Category: Meditation Gardens

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Creating a Meditation Garden – Part II – Using Hostas

Hosta and Tulip by njk1951
Hosta and Tulip by njk1951

TheGardenLady received a question from Tonia about what sorts of flowers and plants should be used in creating a meditation garden.  In the last post on meditation gardens, TheGardenLady explained that in order to answer this question one needs to answer some other preliminary questions first.  In this post, TheGardenLady will discuss the idea of using hostas to create a meditation garden.

To me, there is nothing more tranquil than shades of green. What you also want are different textures and different heights. Thus my primary plant suggestion for your meditation garden is hosta lily plants. See here.

Hostas love shade and partial sun. Some newer varieties are tolerant of more sun. Hostas come in hundreds of varieties and each year new ones are introduced. See here. There are huge leafed hostas, miniature hostas, sword leaf shaped hostas and hostas of all shapes in between. They come in so many different shades of green that if you just planted hostas, you would have leaves of many textures in the most incredible palette of greens, inluding dark green, bluegreen, yellows, chartruse, or variagated cream or white with greens. See here.

Though hostas are grown for the interesting leaves, because hostas are in the lily family, there is the bonus that many do have flowers in whites and lavenders. Some flowers are insignificant but others grow quite large and some are fragrant.  See here.  My hosta flowers attract black swallowtail butterflies.

If you are planting hostas in areas that are not overly wet and you will water the plants, you will be delighted with some of the most undemanding plants that one can get. In these locations you can plant your hostas fairly close together. However, if your area is very wet, then you might have a slug or snail problem. If the area is wet, you won’t want the plants too close together so you can get rid of slugs. But these slugs CAN be dealt with, (ping back to slugs in Japan) so don’t give up on the idea of the hosta. But, if you have a deer, a major problem is that hostas are like candy to deer.

Consider looking at the American Hosta Society page. There you will see a photo of a hosta garden.

Hostas can be inexpensive. (ping back to Russels) And you can put out a call to gardeners you know to see if they are dividing their hostas- people have to divide hostas every few years, just as one does most perennial plants. Ask them for some of their divisions. You may get the plants free. TheGardenLady got most of her hostas that way. Gardeners are very generous about sharing.

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Creating a Meditation Garden – Part I – What Questions to Ask

Meditation Garden by John Suler
Meditation Garden by John Suler

TheGardenLady received this question from Tonia:

I was wondering if you could give me some names of some flowers and plants that would do well in shade to partial sun. We are renovating a meditation garden at the assisted living center where I work and need to put in some things that will survive in such an area. Also the names of some good berry-bearing plants or shrubs that the turtles in the garden could eat from.

How lovely to renovate and by so doing create a new meditation garden in an assisted living center. What a wonderful assignment. My favorite meditation garden was in Encinitas, California.

As requested, I will be giving you some suggestions for plants that are easy care and that I think will look lovely in a mediation garden.

But to create any kind of garden, a little more information about the site is always helpful. More information is needed both for yourself as well as the person who is being asked for advice.

Since this is a garden that has “shade to partial sun,” are trees providing the shade? How large are the trees? You want to know what kind of root mass you are working with as well as how much shade is given off. Are they deciduous or evergreen trees that are giving the partial shade? Certain trees give more shade than others. For example, if there is a Norway Maple, chop it down because the leaves will block anything from growing under them as the tree ages and its root mass will not allow much to grow. Or does a building provide the shade? Buildings have different problems for plants. Is it morning sun or afternoon sun? Most flowering plants want 5 to 6 hours of sun. Green plants don’t need much sun. The morning sun is cooler than the afternoon sun. Certain plants prefer cooler or hotter locations. Is it dry in the shade or is it moist? Different types of plants have differing moisture requirements. (See here) In fact, landscapers even want to know where the N-S-E-W designations are. Different plants prefer different positions. And of course, one needs the planting zone to get plant recommendations.

Then you should ask yourself what type of plants do you prefer? Do you like native plants? Do you prefer annuals or perennials or do you like a mixture? Do you prefer easy care perennials with shorter bloom periods but with less maintenance or annuals that bloom all summer? The more information one has, the better one can advise.

Photos of meditation gardens can be found here.

In the second part of the series on meditation gardens, published in two days, TheGardenLady will discuss the idea of using hostas when creating a meditation garden.