Root competition - hosta and Cornus florida

I have Hosta plantaginea with crowns that are 12" across and they are just about 10" from the base of a dogwood. They are so thick I want to remove all or part of them as they are shading out everything else around them. But I'm concerned about the dogwood roots - I think they have more surface roots.

I don't really care about the hosta - if I get a couple pieces of roots out thats all I need to start them again. My concern about the dogwood is that I took a branch off it last yr that looked diseased. It looked like anthracnose when I compared it to pics in a book. Having all that root competition can't be doing it good.

Any ideas out there?

Your Cornus florida has nothing to fear from your Hosta plantaginea. It does rightly fear you messing around and cutting up its roots, especially if it has enough other stresses in its life (Discula, et al).

Anthracnose isn't generally an outcome of root competition, but more likely periodically or frequently wet foliage on healthy AND stressed plants.

If you want to lift some/all of your hostas ('cause we can tell it's worrying you sick!), take a strong garden hose nozzle blast and wash away the soil from around the hosta you want to extricate, instead of using a blunderbuss of a shovel. That way, you don't have to sever any of the important dogwood roots that may be passing through the hosta clump.

After you've extracted all you want, invite slugs over to polish off the remainder. I hear beer brings them out in droves. Or, use Roundup.

Take lots of pictures of the process. Then we can all learn from your endeavors.

I found this link that says to confirm your diagnosis with your county extension office, as it can be difficult to diagnose correctly. Sounds like the hostas would actually be beneficial, by providing a groundcover-type of mulch, that also would protect the tree from lawn mower injury. Hostas thrive in dry shade, so there's no need to give them water. Wouldn't you be destroying surface roots by digging the hostas up? If you insist on doing that, please send me some! ;-) http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/BP/BP-48.html

Oops, cross-posted with VV, but heartened to learn that I wasn't too far-off from his reply. I am still learning too, a photo journal sounds like a great idea! Beer would attract slugs, but then they would fall in it and drown, that's actually one way to prevent slugs from eating your hostas! ~ signed, Unabashed Hosta Lover ;-)

Now, PG-13, you are carding those slime-trailers, aren't you? Can't be serving underage slugs on those premises.

I was going to volunteer myself to adopt some of those hosta, but I didn't want to appear too forward. Thanks for the ice-breaker.

Am I all wet? I thought anthracnose stayed in the soil?

This location is difficult for the tree - inside of a sidewalk up against the house. The tree has been in place 10 yrs since an addition was put on. Former owner did not believe in amending soil but instead making plants live in the native circumstances. Thus, my county agent laughingly tells me, I am living on top of a granite rock bed covered with what they call Mahoning Clay, the densest clay in the region. It lines the Great Lakes, is blue, smells from being anaerobic, holds water till its dry, then you can't break it with a pick-axe. But I note that a lot of plants here make surface roots rather than going deep unless I amend or raise the beds. Last summer this tree definitely had something going on - and from photos anyway it looked exactly like anthracnose. That bed holds water and with all the shrubs and trees in it there isn't much I can do. I mulched one year and all I got was more slugs and more dampness. This pic shows the dogwood inside the sidwalk on the curve.

But - to your interest - hee hee, sure you can have some hosta. I have to spray it to keep the durn deer off.