Hey Magimay~~ Check your local nurseries. I visit a nursery here frequently, mostly to look and see what I need to add to my wish list. They don't grow their own stuff. So they don't need the pots. Every so often, they compost some of the plants and they throw out all the pots. This guy stacks them up by the dumpster and I can carry home as many as I want for FREE. He's grateful not to have them filling his dumpster. And I get them in all sizes from the little 2" pots and six packs all the way up to huge tree size. The huge tree size ones make great pots just to dump your potting soil in. And I use an ice scoop to scoop it out as I pot stuff. Get two of the huge heavy duty pots and turn one upside down, and sit the other on top of it to put your soil in. No back breaking bending that way. Hope this works for you. Casper

you might want to repost this and click on the "have" button before you submit. I know I almost didn't read it cuz it says "wanted". Just a thought.

Worst problems with larger trees and shrubs typically date back to when they were small trees. The only difference with the specimen being more advanced is that you have more to work your way back through to look for a tight knot or fist below the crown dating back to when it was left too long in a band or small pot - buying them small only makes the deformed roots easier to expose and see. If the disposition of the roots is too severe you are either stuck with planting it and hoping for the best or giving up on it - I threw out a 35 dollar one gallon weeping Nootka cypress because at planting I found that the ENTIRE root system consisted of what looked like a ponytail hair braid like some women belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses wear. How the grower was even able to get the rootstock to twist around itself like that I cannot imagine. Not only was it coiled but it dipped down and then back up, in a U shape. You only plant in spring because that is when the plants are on the market (in good condition, apart from the usual root issues) or because the plants are tender kinds. Otherwise hardy stock should always be planted in fall, late enough that summer heat and drought has passed or is waning but early enough that the big fall annual root elongation has not occurred. (If the roots have to be operated on to a sufficient extent most of the extending of existing roots in fall may be lost, as only intact roots do this). You can tell if a specimen may be about to do this or already doing it by looking at the top, the setting of winter stem buds at the ends of mature, hardened shoots is what causes the root tips to grow at this time of the year. Spring planting is culturally inferior because the soil has been chilled all winter and summer heat and drought are around the corner. Bare-rooted stock from grower warehouses is only planted in spring because the feeder roots are all dried up and dead, need to be replaced before the specimen is fully functional - fall-planted bare-rooted stock is essentially hardwood cuttings with old roots already present but still needing to be protected from the worst winter conditions. New roots grow in spring in response to the opening of winter stem buds. Both in fall and in spring these buds generate hormones which cause the roots to grow. This is one of multiple reasons you don't want to cut tops back at planting, you are reducing the amount of hormones that will reach the roots.

As Ken said, the size of the pot should correspond with the size of the hosta at the time of planting. I've only planted a hosta pot in the garden twice. For the first one, I choose a big pot for a very small hosta. It died. For the second one, I chose a sturdy pot a bit bigger than the root system the hosta already had. I have had it in the same pot for about 4 years. For the first two years, the hosta grew well. The third year the hosta looked good, but would often start to wilt. I attributed that to the fact that it was time to repot it to a larger pot---but now I believe it was because the tree roots had entered the pot and were drinking up the water. The fourth year I pulled the pot out of the soil. Roots had invaded the pot through the drainage holes. Not only that, but the tree roots had encircled all around the pot on the outside. I didn't repot the hosta. I left the pot slightly higher than soil level. Before winter I turned the pot to make sure any new roots had not entered the pot and planted the pot at the proper level for winter. So if you want to try it, I think it works pretty well. A few points: (1) Do not use an overly large pot for a small plant. (2) Turn the pot at least once a season or more (to break invaded roots). (3) Remove a bit of the soil from the top of the pot yearly and replace with new soil/compost. I've never tried the double pot method though it sounds like a good idea. It just worries me that the pot with the hosta will not possibly drain well enough using the two pot method---especially with clay type soil.