Tree ferns

greatnorthernexotic

Anyone bought a tree fern this year? I'm looking for a reputable place to buy one, but a lot of the usual places seem to be out of stock at the minute. Is it the wrong time of year for imports?


As well as the dicksonia antarctica, I'd love to have a go with acyathea cooperi, cyathea tomentosissima, dicksonia fibrosa or dicksonia squarrosa.

Paul B3

Dicksonia antarctica is the only reliably hardy species in the UK ; mine has withstood -15C on occasions plus the associated wind-chill ; that is without any protection whatsoever .

The other Dicksonias you mention are of borderline hardiness ; as for the Cyatheas , they need the protection of a sheltered south-facing walled garden ; even in that situation I doubt they would survive prolonged cold spells .

bertrand-mabel

Our Cyathea in a pot has been in our garden room during the winter and doing brilliant.

We will put it out in the "summer" but again it will have to come back in later in the year.

One in the ground....not sure whether it will survive.

Our Dicksonias are outside and have to be watered down their trunk every day now  but still their crown has a mulch and no new growth yet. We have had frosts for the whole of April.

Kellways at Langport have been a good source and reliable for tree ferns over the years but can't say if this is still the same now.

Simone_in_Wiltshire

Bampton Garden Centre, Oxfordshire, has got loads of them. It's a private garden centre and the quality of their plants is excellent. They have big tree ferns from Tasmania and home-grown. I would recommend a home-grown to make sure that the seasons are right. Yesterday, I saw that the Tasmanian big trees had no leave grow at all.

Wilderbeast

@crgnnn as your in Yorkshire you should try Colette and Tyson garden centre near Beverly, I've had 2 6ft dicksonia from them both done brilliantly. I haven't found anywhere in the past that got near them for price 

Littlegarden

I have only the dicksonia antarctica.
It is in a warm garden. It isn’t in the hottest part of the garden, but I do water it sometimes when it is hot for a couple of weeks. 

Try stuffing the crown. I used to wrap with fleece for the whole of winter, but one year saw many insects on opening up. So now I stuff it with some of the fern and wrap when I think there will be snow or prolonged cold/frost. A light frost seems fine, I no longer wrap for the whole of winter. Once you have it in your own plot you will be able to work out what works.