Using Extra Hostas to Refresh Our Front Yard

We recently tackled a small front-yard refresh using some extra hostas that had volunteered in our backyard. The backyard planting bed is still a mess (we’ll get to that someday), but those stray hostas were too good to ignore. We dug up about five plants and put them to work where they could actually be seen.

The mailbox area was the first target. It had become weedy over the spring and the mums that used to flank it had died back to sticks during the winter. There’s even a big rock temporarily dropped in the bed (don’t ask), and a tilted metal squirrel ornament that made the whole thing look neglected. This corner is one of the first impressions our house makes on the neighborhood, so we wanted to improve it without a huge project.

After pulling the weeds out of the driveway and tidying the base of the mailbox, we temporarily nestled the iron squirrel into a patch of liriope. It gave the area an instantly cleaner, more intentional look without major digging.

We had two options: enlarge the planting bed around the mailbox or let it fill in with grass and ground cover. Katherine (the landscape expert we follow) suggested enlarging the bed for a more graceful curve and better curb appeal. That’s solid advice, and it’s on our list. For now we didn’t feel like digging a bigger bed, so we opted for an easier refresh using pots and the hostas we’d dug up.

We picked up three pots of petunias from Home Depot and paired them with the transplanted hostas. The arrangement looks a bit spaced out at the moment, but based on how plants have performed in that spot before, we expect it to fill in nicely over the next month or two.

Here’s the setup after planting. We added a layer of dark wood mulch to finish the look and help retain moisture. Mulch always helps make new plantings look intentional, even if the bed is still undersized compared to what we’d like.

We know this bed would look even better if it were larger and more gracefully curved, so expanding it remains on the to-do list. For now, the refreshed mailbox area is a definite improvement over the previous weedy mess.

With a few hostas still left over, we used them to fill a blank section of the front planting bed that needed attention. The hostas look modest now but will mature and spread over the season, eventually providing fuller, lush foliage. Hostas can grow impressively wide during summer, so these small transplants should bulk up soon.

Ta-dah! A fresh, simple update that doesn’t require major landscaping work but still boosts curb appeal. We spread more mulch to tidy the area, although mulch can fade a little after weeks of sun and pollen. That tan line should mellow with time and a future refresh.

People often ask what mulch we use — we typically buy the darkest brown wood mulch available at Home Depot when it’s on sale. Once our beds are established, we may arrange for a bulk mulch delivery, which tends to be cheaper than buying individual bags.

Hostas are a favorite shade plant for us. They’re reliable and hardy — we haven’t managed to kill one yet. In fact, we once discovered a hosta sprouting inside a sealed Tupperware bin in our basement after a move, thriving without light or water for weeks. That little surprise felt like a small gardening miracle.

We’re continuing to tweak the front yard and will document bigger changes as they happen. Expanding the mailbox bed and completing a larger planting plan are still goals for next season. Have you used transplanted perennials or volunteer plants to refresh your landscape? Hostas are a great, low-cost option to add quick, attractive foliage to shady spots.

Psst—We should probably update our master list of outdoor tasks soon. It’s encouraging to cross a few items off as we make progress.