How deep should you plant a hosta?

[Jamie]

Roxanne,
You couldn't be more right . It takes a minimum of 4 to 5 years for garden mulch to break down and even longer depending on the depth. Gardeners don't go out and turn the mulch so it takes a bit longer to decompose, unlike compost sites that are moving piles or turning piles on a weekly bases.

John,
Remember our experience hold no grounds unless our name is Butch.

[JoshS]

How long it takes mulch to decompose depends a lot on the type of mulch and how finely it is chipped. We have a company here that grinds up used wooden pallets. The resulting mulch is pretty coarse and it does last several years. Some of the bagged mulch I've used is practically saw dust and it only lasts a year...two, max.

But back to the main topic, I agree with the better to plant a little deep than to shallow group. I've seen too many crowns become exposed over the winter. When that happens, the plant is as good as gone. I do believe a winter mulch could protect exposed crowns, though, and intend to mulch a bunch of my fall planted things as a precaution.

[Wild Dog]

I hate to have Chris's great work on planting depth high-jacked for a mulch discussion so I'm taking my response to my thread extolling mulch for those interested.