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Shuttlecock ferns in school wildlife garden
Justin Doherty2
Posts: 205
Hi all, does anyone have any experience of shuttlecock ferns in wildlife gardens? How are they to grow?
Thanks,
Justin
0
Posts
Is matteuccia?
They like damp. Easy if they get that.
Dryopteris felix-mas, male fern, is more tolerant of whatever it gets
In the sticks near Peterborough
How big do the D. felix-mas get, Nutcutlet?
On my dry side of the country the dryopteris is 2' 6'' maybe.
Hart's Tongue is good and reliable as well, Asplenium scolopendrium, smaller with shiny leaves
In the sticks near Peterborough
One of several of my shuttlecock ferns growing in very dry soil at the foot of a thuja hedge.
Hart's Tongue likes shade and damp, and is good on alkaline soil, but it's also very tolerant. Found naturally in the grykes on limestone pavement.
I've got Drypteris Cristata 'The King' (aka Elvis
) and Hart's Tongue ferns in my wildlife area, as well as some with gorgeous reddish fronds (whose name I shall find in a minute or three). They all prefer damp shade but cope with dryish shade if watered well in their first year.
Got it - the one which has reddish fronds is Dryopteris erythrosora Prolifera.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My shuttlecock ferns grow really well in the wet, shady border, clay soil, between two trees (so gets dry sometimes). They are having babies like mad