Sun-loving Ferns
I brought lots of Harts Tongue fern from my last garden, and out of a lack of better options, planted it in a west facing bed that gets the sun all afternoon, and is quite dry. It seems to be fine!
I'm wondering if I could get away with sticking it in my south facing bed, to provide a bit of structure - as here at Iford Manor (among Nepeta and Agastache) but on a tiny scale:
Do any of you manage to grow ferns in such untypical conditions?
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Yes I've got a dryopteris filix-mas growing by a south facing wall - 2 actually. They seem very happy. They needed a bit of extra watering in the first year and there is a large lump of rock that only comes up to their ankles but does keep the sun off their feet.
Go for it - I think that looks fabulous
Last edited: 24 August 2017 15:54:07
I have Maidenhair fern (Adiantum venustum) growing in full sun in a fairly dry border ,plus numerous other species in the same bed ; so much for the 'textbooks' stating otherwise .
Yes - there are quite a few ferns which like dry conditions. Hart's Tongue fern seems to be happy almost anywhere, and they're happy in sun if they don't dry out too much.
Not sure about if they have a soil preference, but I have neutral soil here, and I grew them successfully in a previous garden nearby.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Loads of ferns keep sowing themselves along a low, south-facing drystone wall in my garden and as their roots are sheltered they seem not to mind the sun.
I have to keep digging them out as they get too big for the path. Can't widen it, as the other side is a pond!