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It’s fun to
identify these ferns in the wild, but if you are going to plant hardy
ferns in your garden, please buy them from your local nursery and leave
the naturally occurring ones in Mother Nature’s space.
When planting
hardy ferns in your garden, it pays to do a little research before you
buy them. Make sure you have the right growing conditions for your new
plants by comparing your landscape to the wild. Will the ferns survive a
lot of sun exposure, moisture or total shade? These are things to
consider when planting.
Here are a few
other choices for you to consider for your garden:
•
Selanginella or spikemoss comes in several varieties and makes a
great groundcover for shaded areas. This can also be planted in hanging
baskets.
• The Japanese
painted fern (Athyrium goeringianum), Holly fern (Polystichum
falcatum) and Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora)
are great for full shade and offer color diversity to an otherwise plain
landscape.
• The Ostrich
fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is a good one to
use for height in your shade garden; growing as tall as three feet.
There are hardy
ferns for most landscape situations in your yard. Most of the ones I
mentioned are evergreen too. There are dozens of varieties of ferns in
nurseries just waiting on you to take them home!
Remember, plant
several of each variety to make a statement in your garden. Use them to
highlight a focal point or to accentuate a feature. Let me help you
choose ferns for your planting projects this fall! E-mail me at kennalan@gtradio.net. |
