Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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thank you so much for the star jasmine advice Lee. My next query is this rather large fern that I have in my garden. I love it but think it needs dividing. Any tips on how to do this. I’m not entirely sure what it is. My plant finder says it’s a soft shield fern which is an evergreen but I’m sure it’s died off in winters before, although it is still looking pretty green at the moment. Any advice welcome. Thank you.
Helen
Hello,
thank you so much for the star jasmine advice Lee. My next query is this rather large fern that I have in my garden. I love it but think it needs dividing. Any tips on how to do this. I’m not entirely sure what it is. My plant finder says it’s a soft shield fern which is an evergreen but I’m sure it’s died off in winters before, although it is still looking pretty green at the moment. Any advice welcome. Thank you.
Good to hear from you again and glad the advice on the Jasmin was helpful. Although some ferns are classed as evergreen sometimes a severe frost or cold icy winds can damage them so they do sometimes die back.
The great thing about ferns is that they have a very visible and easily identifiable crown. Which is the base of the plant that protrudes from the earth. This crown is where the fern's fronds (leaves) emerge from each year. It's the crown of the fern that you're going to carefully split and vidide to propagate your fern.
The good news is yes you can easily split ferns and winter time is the best time to do that.
How to split ferns:
Lift the fern from the ground during winter when the weather is mild and no chance of frost
Locate the crown of the fern - this looks like a brown slightly hairy mass of lumps just above the soil level
Look at the fern to see if it has already started to split into new plants. (You can see this from multiple clumps of leaves or fronds clustered together)
Using a sharp knife or hori hori cut the fern neatly through the crowns creases on a large fern like above you will easily get 4 divisions from it.
Make sure before cutting that each division is going to have a decent amount of roots (if you divide it too much then you may lose some due to lack of roots to support them) It's better to have a few strong contenders than many weaklings!
As soon as they are divided either replant them or put them into containers with a good peat-free compost
Water back in well (even if the ground is wet or its just rained)
Good to hear from you again and glad the advice on the Jasmin was helpful. Although some ferns are classed as evergreen sometimes a severe frost or cold icy winds can damage them so they do sometimes die back.
The great thing about ferns is that they have a very visible and easily identifiable crown. Which is the base of the plant that protrudes from the earth. This crown is where the fern's fronds (leaves) emerge from each year. It's the crown of the fern that you're going to carefully split and vidide to propagate your fern.
The good news is yes you can easily split ferns and winter time is the best time to do that.
How to split ferns:
Lift the fern from the ground during winter when the weather is mild and no chance of frost
Locate the crown of the fern - this looks like a brown slightly hairy mass of lumps just above the soil level
Look at the fern to see if it has already started to split into new plants. (You can see this from multiple clumps of leaves or fronds clustered together)
Using a sharp knife or hori hori cut the fern neatly through the crowns creases on a large fern like above you will easily get 4 divisions from it.
Make sure before cutting that each division is going to have a decent amount of roots (if you divide it too much then you may lose some due to lack of roots to support them) It's better to have a few strong contenders than many weaklings!
As soon as they are divided either replant them or put them into containers with a good peat-free compost
Water back in well (even if the ground is wet or its just rained)
Thanks Lee! That’s given me a bit more confidence to have a go as it’s really got too big and I’d like some more ferns for a new woodland bit I’m trying to plant. I’ll be sure to add a review.
Thanks Lee! That’s given me a bit more confidence to have a go as it’s really got too big and I’d like some more ferns for a new woodland bit I’m trying to plant. I’ll be sure to add a review.
Lee Burkhill: Award Winning Designer & BBC 1's Garden Rescue Presenters Official Blog
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