Plant guide: ferns
Ferns are a gorgeous plant to have in the garden. Their arching fronds, tiny delicate leaflets and rich green colour help to create a verdant and lush vibe wherever they’re planted. Typically thriving in shaded and damp locations, they’re perfect for spots with low light. We love to use them growing out of stone walls, in damp corners or as underplanting for taller trees and shrubs.
There are a huge variety of different ferns available, so you can find the perfect one to match most spots. These are some of our favourites for different locations.
Evergreen ferns
Polystichum setiferum
Polystichum setiferum, the soft shield fern, is a relatively large fern (growing up to about a metre) with delicate leaflets.
It’s a British native that looks great alongside a huge range of plants. It’s one of our absolute favourites for its glorious green colour and tactile leaves.
Dryopteris wallichiana
This is a large, semi-evergreen fern that can make a good statement plant. Though it might lose some fronds in a cold Winter, it tends to hold onto at least a few, and can be cut back in Spring before the new growth appears.
Asplenium scolopendrium
Asplenium scolopendrium, the hart’s tongue fern, is a small growing, glossy-leaved fern, that has strap like leaves that (vaguely!) resemble tongues.
Reaching a maximum height of around 50cm, this is the perfect glossy fern for the front of a bed or border, or to grow in pots.
It looks amazing growing in stone walls or tucked among paving and is a perfect choice to give a slightly wild, natural look to a garden.
Adiantum venustum
The hardy maidenhair fern
This a relative of the tender maidenhair fern (Adiantum radianum), which has long been a popular houseplant. Adiantum venustum is becoming more and more popular in the garden too.
Tiny fan-shaped leaves (similar to the ginkgo, or maidenhair, tree, hence the name) are held on almost invisibly thin wiry stems, that seem to shimmer in breezes.
It’s a really delicate plant than can work as groundcover in a moist, shaded area, or look great in a pot on its own. Just don’t allow it to dry out.
Polystichum setiferum
Tree ferns in a garden
Evergreen ferns growing in a wall
Deciduous ferns
Tree ferns
Dryopteris filix-mas
Another native, this is similar to Dryopteris wallichiana but a deciduous variety, so it will die back in the Autumn and reappear again the following Spring. Though deciduous ferns do leave empty spaces in the ground over the winter months, this is more than made up for by the enjoyment of watching the new fronds appear and slowly unfurl each Spring. It is simply mesmerising watching the first tightly curled spirals appear and then start to uncoil and stretch outwards, filling out in a matter of weeks.
Athyrium nipponicum ‘Metallicum’
Athyrium nipponicum ‘Metallicum,’ also known as the painted lady fern.
This is a fern that has really grown in popularity recently. Its leaves are a silvery grey (hence the name ‘Metallicum’) and they provide a great point of contrast to flowering plants. This is perfect in a pot as it’s a small low-growing plant (up to about 30cm).
Dicksonia antarctica
Oh, we love tree ferns! Such an amazing statement plant that look great in so many different types of gardens and can even be grown in (large) pots.
There is only really one type of tree fern that is reliably hardy in the UK, which is Dicksonia antarctica. It’s an absolute beauty, with huge fronds (more than a metre long) coming from the top of the thick “trunk”. (Not actually a trunk at all, but a mat of aerial roots.) If you invest in a tree fern (and they do tend to be fairly expensive to buy), make sure to keep it moist and wrap the top for any freezing weather in the Winter months.
