FERNS

FERNS

Ferns make excellent landscape plants because of their attractive fronds and their ability to thrive where many plants fail. As long as you have a moist and shady environment, ferns provide an easy way to spruce up your garden with layers of green texture, bringing ambience and tranquility. You can plant them under shady trees, as border plants, in hanging baskets, or as ground covers. From giant tree ferns to tiny maidenhair ferns, you can line garden pathways or fill empty landscapes entirely with low maintenance ferns.

Planting:

Many ferns grow happily outdoors as long as they have plenty of moisture and some shade. Typically the best time to plant ferns is in early spring after the last frost. Enrich soil with organic compost 30cm deep. Dig hole twice the width of the fern and scatter sheep pellets in the hole. Loosen fern from pot and place in hole. Top with moist slightly acidic soil. Spread with 5cm of organic mulch like Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food. This locks in the moisture, keeps temperature cool and suppresses weed growth. Water in well ensuring you water from the top not the roots especially if planting tree ferns.

Care:

Outdoor Ferns: Water regularly to avoid dry soil. Most ferns don’t require fertiliser but appreciate the occasional sprinkling of Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic plant food. Mulch with well rotted old leaves or Mulch. Most ferns do not require fertiliser but you can occasionally add a little Tui General Fertiliser if you wish. One of the worst pests is fern scale The safest treatment is to trim off all the affected leaves and fertilise to promote new growth. Slugs can also be an issue. Use a handful of Tui slug pellets to deter them.

Indoor Ferns: Keep away from strong draughts, air conditioning and direct sunlight. They grow well in bathrooms where the humidity levels keep them happy. Feed every 2-4 weeks with Tui enrich All Purpose during summer using a misting bottle. Do not feed in winter when ferns rest. Direct sunlight can cause yellowing or loss of fronds. Snip away brown fronds to keep ferns looking lush and green.

Examples of Ferns:

There are a number of tree ferns that are native and do well in New Zealand gardens.

Cyathea Medullaris: the Black Tree Fern - NZs giant reaching up to 20m.

Dicksonia Squarrosa: the Brown Tree Fern - smaller and hardier plant which is perfect for planting in sheltered locations and is fast growing.

Attractive smaller species include Asplenium, Bulbiferum, Doodia Australis - ground cover in sheltered spots and Blechnum Gibbum for warm moist shade.

For indoors try maidenhair ferns, birds nest ferns and button ferns.