How well to hosta respond to pruning?

[Wood]

Do hosta respond to pruning and can you get a reliable second flush out of them? I have a kusamono with two types of hosta, some heuchara and some spiral orchids, and I'm slightly worried about the hosta overpowering the orchids. Had been considering pruning them away to give the orchids more light

 

[TomB]

You can remove leaves and will get a little bit of regrowth, but I wouldn't call it a 'second flush'. There does seem to be a bit of growth through the season. In the position you describe I'd think about thinning out the hosta (especially larger leaves) but I wouldn't cut it back completely.

 

[Dav4]

Back in the day, I had a serious hosta fetish, but the move south to crappy soil followed by the move north to deer infested lands has put a damper on my itch to start collecting again. With that being said, I'll bet dimes to dollars that if you were to cut back all the leaves on a vigorously growing specimen, you'd get a full crop of new growth within a month or so, though the new leaves will be smaller. Your mileage may vary depending on location and cultivar, meaning dwarf cultivars are less vigorous and might not respond as well.