Dig a planting hole in the soil that is the same depth as and 1 1/2 times the width of the nursery container. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. The soil should be rich, well-drained, and acidic. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. This makes the plant a good choice for shady, damp areas, providing a spark of bright color where few other plants will grow. In northern areas, the plants will tolerate sun if the soil stays moist. A neutral or slightly acidic soil is preferable for most ferns; aim for a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Please enable Cookies and reload the page. Aged compost mix and aged manure mix are also good soil building additions. Check the pH of the soil in the planting area and match the plant to the growing conditions. Most ferns grow best in loose, loamy soil that is rich in organic matter. Planting the ferns is simple. Plant your new divisions in containers that are a quarter to a third larger than the size of the plant’s root division for best results. Propagating Ferns From Spores Fill a flat or another container with sterile, moistened potting mix designed for ferns. 3. Enrich your soil with organic compost. Lady ferns are an excellent ground cover and good companions for other shade loving perennials. They are among the seedless vascular plants that laid down the coal beds the world has relied on in the recent past for energy. Space plants 2 to 4 feet apart, allowing them to reach their mature size without crowding. Prepare the bed by turning the soil under to a depth of 6-12 inches removing any debris, and lightly raking as level as possible. Growing Ferns as Houseplants. If the soil is not well-draining, mix in perlite, too. If you want a plant to take over a wet woodland space, choose ostrich fern (Matteuccia … She earned a BA from U.C. If the soil is too heavy, work compost or peat moss into the top 10 or 15 inches before planting. 4 ferns created from dividing a single fern. Soil. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Fall: Cut foliage back to soil level when it dies back after a heavy frost. How to Plant Ferns Outdoors Ferns Are Ancient Plants. Many ferns grow by rhizomes with shallow roots, so you won’t have to dig deep. To grow outdoor ferns in pots or in the garden, you'll want to be sure to meet their cultural requirements. Place your fern in an area that gets indirect light. There are evergreen and deciduous types, hardy ferns for damp soils and some for dry soils such as those found under trees. Soil & Transplanting. Most perennial ferns will grow well in in average moist well-drained soils. Further north in zones 6 and 7, they will go dormant during the winter and start growing again in the spring. A professional writer and consummate gardener, Spengler has written about home and garden for Gardening Know How, San Francisco Chronicle, Gardening Guide and Go Banking Rates. Dryopteris erythrosora. If you are considering growing a fern plant outdoors, you need to pick a plant that matches your climate. Fine Gardening recommends an autumn mulch of 3 or 4 inches of finely chopped, dried leaves to build up a layer of leaf mold. Well-draining soil is required to prevent the plants from being in standing water, but otherwise, it is tolerant of most soil types. Some ferns are at home only in very warm areas and won't live through chilly winters. Homeowners enjoy displaying common fern houseplants indoors, like Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) or maidenhead fern (Adiantum spp). The easiest way to propagate hardy ferns is by division. Ghost Athyrium require organic matter to grow and it’s recommended to use compost/mulch as fertilizer, especially if you’re growing the ferns in the sand. Types of Hardy Garden Ferns. The key to keeping ferns happy outdoors is taking care to match a species of fern to your hardiness zone and growing conditions. Fill the bottom of your container with a high quality potting mix and place the divided fern in … Grow your fern in a plastic pot instead of clay pot. Before planting, take the time to work in compost and peat moss. Heavy clay soils are not hospitable unless amended with compost. Though most ferns are not fussy about soil pH, some types prefer acidic soil. Cloudflare Ray ID: 600fa1cf9eb11964 The ghost fern needs to be water regularly, ideally once a week or enough to ensure the soil remains moist. Shake the spores off the paper... Mist the surface of the potting mix, to moisten the spores and keep them in place. Soil: Ferns sink their thirsty roots into deep, friable soil rich in organic matter. For a smaller fern to add to a shady fern garden, consider the Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), hardy down to USDA zone 3. Place the pots in light shade and keep the compost moist Crown splitting It can t… The best way to prepare the soil for ferns is to add Miracle-Gro® All Purpose Garden Soil to the planting area. These can vary among species, but most ferns like shade or at most, dappled sun. How to Plant the Tree Fern. Well-draining soil is a must. Santa Cruz, a law degree from U.C. To reduce water loss, apply a 1- to 3-inch thick mulch of fine bark or decomposed leaves. Mix in between five and 10 gallons of compost to the soil and mix it together. 10 best ferns for decorative compositions in the garden. Ensure that the soil has good amount of moisture content but continually damp or wet. If your ferns are exceptionally large, or have outgrown their pots, Fall is the perfect time for dividing and replanting. It thrives in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9. Ferns are vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds or flowers. Resurrection ferns are popular landscape plants in the southern parts of the US. A plastic pot retains moisture better than a clay … When the ground freezes, mulch to protect plants from heaving out of the soil in winter. Mix organic matter or compost in the hole before planting and cover the soil with a couple of inches of mulch. It depends on the growth habit of the fern as to how it will divide: Creeping rhizomes 1. One way to build organic material into your fern garden is to top the soil over your ferns with organic mulch, like compost or chopped dried leaves. Thanks to the mild climate, the ferns grow year round outdoors. These plants thrive in well-drained, moist soil. Shorter selections in mass plantings make great ground covers. Ostrich Fern. Regular irrigation is essential during the summer months. Foxtail fern isn’t too picky when it comes to soil. Polypodium vulgare. Although ferns are fairly drought tolerant, they do need some water so Monty offers tips on maintaining optimum moisture levels in the first year after planting. In their natural environment, most ferns grow in humid forests or on the bank of a water source, so they generally require very moist soil. In mild climates that don't experience frost, you can plant ferns outdoors year-round. Southern maidenhair fern – Southern maidenhair fern is a hardy spreading plant that will survive in a wider range of soil conditions, including rocks ... Lady fern – Lady fern is drought tolerant, grows up to 3 feet (.9 m.), and has a beautiful upright habit. Some ferns can tolerate poor drainage,... Watering. Ceterach officinarum. Put the right fern in the right place, and it will reward you with vibrant foliage where other plants might fail. Mix 3 inches of this nutrient-rich garden soil in with the top 6 inches of existing soil, or improve individual planting holes by blending garden soil and native soil in a 50:50 ratio. Another great outdoor fern that accepts cooler winters is the lush and lovely sword fern (Polystichum munitum). Find a shady spot in your yard with a tree or a rock for your fern to grow on. Ferns appreciate porous, organic soil. Growing Medium. The plant prefers rich, organic soil. Selecting Outdoor Ferns. Hardy ferns come in many diverse forms, leaf shapes and textures - some are statuesque, some are wonderfully architectural and a few provide useful mats of groundcover where other plants struggle. Your asparagus fern plants will appreciate fertilizer during the growing season. Dig down into the soil, pay attention to trees growing nearby, look at drainage patterns from nearby sidewalks or slopes, and so on. Boston fern in gardens require partial to full shade, or dappled, filtered light. If your garden soil is poor, dig in a few inches of leaf mulch, compost or finely chopped bark. Ferns are among the oldest plants on earth, appearing in the fossil record more than 350 million years ago. Then, in his Dry Garden, which has very poor soil, he plants the common polypody, Polypodium vulgare, with the crispy hart’s tongue fern Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Marginatum’. A soil mixture for ferns must hold adequate moisture, contain a high proportion of organic matter such as peat, leaf mold, ground sphagnum moss, and be well aerated so it will drain very well and air can move through the soil. Fertilizer. Soil Drainage and pH. Taller species are appealing at the back of a border and can be attractive stand-alone specimens. Berkeley's Boalt Hall, and an MA and MFA from San Francisco State. They are classified into hundreds of genera and thousands of species. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. As with so many other types of perennial plants, most perennial ferns do not like a constantly wet soil. She currently divides her life between San Francisco and southwestern France. Plant fern plants in lightly shaded to fully shaded areas. For example, the lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina) with its finely cut fronds is native to Illinois and thrives in U.S.Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 8, according to the Morton Arboretum. Famous for its almost straight, evenly symmetrical ... 2. What to Do With Outdoor Fern Plants in Winter. 1. If you’re planting your Boston fern outdoors, select a site that is in partial shade and has moist but well-draining soil. Staghorn Ferns are epiphytes, meaning that they do not naturally grow in soil but instead use their roots … The nutrients magnesium and calcium should be available to the roots. Ferns prefer lightweight, moist, mostly well-drained soil. Whether you are planting in the ground or in a container, when planting a soft tree fern, dig a hole in the soil that’s double the size of the root ball of the plant. Staghorn Ferns are epiphytes, meaning that they do not naturally grow in soil but instead use their roots to anchor themselves to host trees. These might do well in your garden as outdoor ferns in pots or planted directly into a bed. Just dig a hole that is more or less the same size of the fern pot and plant the fern in the hole so that the plant sits just above (approximately 1 to 2 inches) the ground level. But there are types of outdoor ferns that can tolerate a wider range of hardiness zones. Check the pH of your soil and choose ferns that will be happy in those growing conditions. Get the fern started indoors, especially if you live in an area with unreliable weather for your particular breed of fern. If you would like to keep the same size fern for next year, a good rule of thumb is to split the fern to a third of its size for its current container. Today, some 12,000 species of ferns still exist on earth, according to the University of Georgia, most of them growing in the tropics. Matteuccia Struthiopteris. 4. They prefer moist, rich humus soil with a slightly acid pH (5.3 to 5.5 pH range). Known as the autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora is an unusual fern with red … Plant lady ferns in full to part shade, and give young plants plenty of room to reach full size, which is 24-30” tall and 18-24” wide. Pick a spot in your home that doesn’t get a lot of … Planting Potted Plants: Choose a location in full to part shade, with moist, slightly acidic soil rich in organic matter. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. This also holds down the weeds and regulates the temperature of the soil, keeping it cool in summer and warm in winter. Many people keep ferns indoors as houseplants, but these plants can also be excellent additions to shady garden beds. Most ferns grow best in loose, loamy soil that is rich in organic matter. But ferns also provide a frilly texture to shaded garden beds where few other plants thrive. Adiantum pedatum. Pot up individually into peat-substitute based compost at the same level at which it was growing. Your IP: 45.115.39.219 Plant ferns in fertile, well-drained soil in partial or full shade. Planting too deep will result in the sections rotting 3. It's a good idea to know the moisture needs of specific types of perennial you intend to grow. Ferns also need soil that is both moist and well-drained. 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