Ferns on the move
Dukepaulus
Posts: 10
Ok so another question to all you experts out there.
Basically, can I move ferns?
Having inherited a garden I'm looking at tidying and making some changes.
My latest thing is the ferns that I have in the garden. There are a few and in some unexpected locations. Maybe the smaller ones have self seeded from the others?
Anyway, some are right next to the main path and are rather in the way and others just seem to be in the wrong place altogether. I have a great shady spot that last year I moved and divided my hostas into ( they were in a full sun location when we moved in ). The hostas have done really well this year and so I'm looking at moving and / or dividing these ferns to give a contrasting foliage texture in this shady location. Can I dig up the ferns and move them like I did with the hostas?
I think that they are either Polystichum or Dryopteris but could be completely wrong on this point.
Posts
I've moved lots of ferns without any problem - big and small. They're quite robust. Some will tolerate more sun than others so just make sure you give them the right sort of conditions when you move them and water well till established
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thanks Fairygirl, I'll be giving it a go tomorrow. Do they have extensive root balls?
Not really - even bigger ones seem to have quite neat roots. They bounce back quickly if you water them well initially , and you should see new growth quite soon, even at this time of year. Give them a good water before digging them up and you shouldn't have too much of a problem. I cut back some of the fronds on bigger ones too, so that they're not stressed.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Here in the desert (East Anglia), I'd wait till the soil and atmosphere is damper
In the sticks near Peterborough