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Fern wall

Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
in Garden design
Hi all fellow gardeners! In a shady corner of my pergola I've just started a "fern wall" experiment.
I was inspired by Jack Wallington’s blog and his fern wall (Fernatic: 50 fern species, 1 living wall). As an experiment I have started on a modest scale, with only ten different species or varieties. 8 ferns were purchased and potted in mid-June. I added a fern (unidentified) from the nearby forest and a splinter of my Athyrium niponicum fern ‘Metallicum’, which grows in the ground under the pergola. I am attaching some pics, you can see more details on my garden site here.

List of current species:
  • Athyrium niponicum 'Metallicum'
  • Asplenium scolopendrium
  • Athyrium niponicum var. pictum Red Beauty
  • Athyrium filix-femina 'Lady in Red'
  • Onoclea sensibilis
  • Polystichum aculeatum
  • Cheilanthes lanosa
  • Cyrtomium fortunei var. clivicola
  • Dryopteris filix-mas
I am looking forward to your comments and advice, especially from fellow gardeners who have done a similar fern wall.


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Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    That's going to look amazing! Will you need something to stop the water coming out the bottom of the pots?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    @B3 Thanks for the encouragement! Actually, I start watering by the top row, so extra water falls on the fern pots in the lower rows.
    Yesterday at a local plant fair purchased 2 new ferns for the wall. Nice foliage, and evergreens too.
    Arachniodes simplicior

    Blechnum spicant / hard fern
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    edited September 2019
    That Arachnoides is a new one to me - very interesting. But the Blechnum is my favourite. I too read Jack Wallington's blog. Did you see the garden on Big Dreams, Small Spaces?
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    LG_ said:
    That Arachnoides is a new one to me - very interesting. But the Blechnum is my favourite. I too read Jack Wallington's blog. Did you see the garden on Big Dreams, Small Spaces?
    Actually, it's Arachniodes. Amusingly it was wrongly spelt on the label when I bought it!
    I'm a great fan of Jack Wallington's blog and a regular follower.
  • bullfinchbullfinch Posts: 692
    Ooh they look great! I've not seen a  fern wall before it's really striking @Papi Jo .
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    People pay money for ferns??? I'm sitting on a goldmine here :D  Blechnum, dryopteris and harts tongue ferns are rapidly turning the garden into Jurassic Park. 
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    steephill said:
    People pay money for ferns??? I'm sitting on a goldmine here :D  Blechnum, dryopteris and harts tongue ferns are rapidly turning the garden into Jurassic Park. 
    Lucky you!
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Nice. I love Blechnum spicant, lovely tough and wiry thing!
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • AmphibiosAmphibios Posts: 158
    Looks awesome @Papi Jo. 
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