Dicksonia Antarctica

dan.jbyrne · June 2019

Hi all, just a little bit of advice please......I’ve recently purchased and sited 2 Dicksonia Antarctica, 6’ trunks with large approx 8’ fronds. They look great and am aware of the care required regarding the crown and trunk etc however, I would like to know of any tried and tested methods of keeping the fronds more erect? The trees are in a SLIGHTLY exposed area and the wind and rain is effecting them a little more than I was expecting, making the branches stoop really low. I was contemplating creating a rubber coated wire ‘crown’ to the top of the trunk to act as an anchor point for each frond once tied into the shape required. I personally think this would work but any thoughts would be much appreciated. They are quite close to a path so would like to get them lifted higher if possible. Unless there is another way, I will give it a whirl and update shortly with pics if successful! Thanks in advance. Dan

treehugger80 · June 2019

if you've only just bought them i'd let them settle down, I wouldn't wire them as any wind will snap the fronds off.

next year the new fronds will grow the way they want to, you can't really force fern fronds to do anything they don't want to, but if they're interfering with the path you'll have to move them back from the path (or raise them onto a banked up bed) as they only grow 1 inch per year

dan.jbyrne · June 2019

Thanks for the input treehugger80.
I’ve successfully managed to sort one of them out with the method I suggested might work, seems to be holding up well. Will see what happens when the wind gets up! Going to try a slightly different method with the other one and see which works best. 👍

jowyeth · July 2020

Hi Dan, I would love to know if your idea to support low hanging fronds worked as I have the same issue and would like to raise them a little so that I can walk under it instead of into it!

Dicksonia Antarctica

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