A Fern For Your Thoughts

Do you have a shady spot on your lawn where nothing ever seems to grow? Rather than trying to cover it up with a non-native vine, consider instead the magical -looking fern. Although we usually encounter it as a pretty potted plant, ferns are one of the more successful groups of the plant kingdom. They grow in most parts of the world and, in spite of their delicate look they are a fairly tough plant. In fact, they're considered one of ths best landscape plants for those troublesome shady spots.

Although the fern doesn't directly provide food for wild creatures, it provides an excellent ground cover in shady areas; areas where groundcover is often most needed.

Because there's so many varieties of ferns, it's hard to make a blanket statement about what they like. Most like a warmish, damp environment, but the Australian native ferns do fine even down in cold Canberra and there are dry ferns that would do poorly in a moist soil. Most prefer shade but some like a fairly strong sunlight.

Starting out with ferns:

The first step is, as always, to visit your local nurseries and find out what they have that grows in your area. You can try to grow your own from wild stock, but it's easier to plant ferns first and get the conditions just right for them and THEN start growing your own rather than rushing out and trying to grow your own in the first place. Prepare the bed by mixing in an ample helping of peat moss (here in Texas, in the heavy clay soils, you need to mix a LOT of peat moss into the ground. A properly prepared soil will be a loose, loamy consistancy.

Drainage is important, since ferns don't like to have their roots wet. They like the soil to be slightly acidic, so add a little lime to the soil mixture (dolomite lime is recommended). But don't go out of your way to fertilize the bed with standard fertilizers. It's true that ferns need nutrients, but they also burn fairly easily. Liberal applications of fertilizer will kill the small ferns, and several sources say that manure is not good for them. Better to underfeed than to overfeed.

The landscaper's favorite rule of thumb for bushes and trees also applies to ferns: newly planted plants need more water than established plants. You won't have to worry about spraying the plants to protect them from pests. As a rule, very few insects like to dine on ferns.

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