FABULOUS FERNS

Fabulou s

Ferns gained popularity in the Victorian age, when gardeners used them to mimic woodland spots under the shade of trees and shrubs. Stumperies – like rockeries, but made from tree trunks and logs – were the fashion, interplanted with ferns or combined with rocks and water to reflect a more craggy natural landscape.

FERNS

Delicate foliage can bring low-maintenance splendour to shade, and will transform an otherwise drab area into a leafy paradise ALL SHAPES AND SIZES

erns come in an amazing

Frange of textures, colours, sizes and shapes, so do take the trouble to get to know them in all their splendid glory by visiting a specialist grower during summer months.

As well as British native ferns that are ideal for planting in drifts in shady corners, tall tree ferns are good to dot around to create an exotic mood in a sheltered spot. These will thrive in dappled shade if you keep them well away from the edge of a lawn so that the grass won’t starve them of food and moisture.

Shuttlecock ferns

Top tip

Ferns from tropical countries make excellent plants in a conservatory, terrarium or bottle garden where the temperature is always maintained at 10-15oC (50-59oF). Delicate maidenhair fern

Ground hugging plants

The maidenhair fern (Adiantum raddianum) is perfect for squeezing into the nooks and crannies of drystone walls and, in a modern setting, plants can be arranged in such a way that they create modern wall art.

Shapely and structured

Shuttlecock fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and hart’s tongue (Asplenium scolopendrium) are effective in contemporary schemes when planted in geometric blocks or combined with lacy fronded ferns to create a textured tapestry of green to replace lawns and borders.

PLANT COMBINATIONS

Spring blooms such as wood anemones, snowdrops, cyclamen and hellebores are excellent partners for unfurling ferns, while lilies and irises complement them in summer. The royal fern (Osmunda regalis) in particular, does well around boggy pond edges. Soft shield fern

Hardy and evergreen

Polystichum setiferum or soft shield ferns are particularly good for giving winter interest – especially magical effects when their frost-encrusted lacy fronds shine in the winter sun and produce ghostly outlines when mists descend.

Potting

You don’t need a garden to grow ferns – most will thrive in pots in cool, shady spots. Choose different types, including those with coloured fronds, such as the silvery-grey Japanese painted and broad buckler ferns.

Maidenhair fern is ideal for decorating cracks in paving, rockeries and drystone walls.

Make Dicksonia tree ferns a focal point in a ferny glade.

Hart’s tongue fern and hostas make a perfect pairing for a shady border.

PL ANTING AND CARE

1Ferns should be planted in dappled shade or where the site receives early morning sun. They mostly prefer slightly acidic soils and those rich in organic matter, which will hold onto moisture at their roots.

2They will only thrive if drainage is good, although aspleniums grow best in limy soils. These include the Crispum Cristatum Group that have attractive ruffled fronds, and Polystichum setiferum, the soft shield fern that has new fronds resembling octopus tentacles and mature to soft, much divided, mossy green pinnae.

3Dryopteris is highly tolerant to dry shade, so does well in shallow, stony soils and Dryopteris filix-mas will grow in the deepest, darkest shade so will survive spots where most other plants would die.

4Ferns generally require very little maintenance throughout the year, but will continue to look at their best if yellowing deciduous fronds are removed in late autumn and older fronds on evergreen varieties are removed in late winter or early spring to make room for new growth.