Evergreen ferns – year round interest for the shady garden

Emerging in spring, the spiralling new shoots of ferns are a source of fascination, their delicate, lacy fronds slowly appearing as they unfurl. Not merely green, the emerging leaves of some have hues of bronze and hints of pink. Others sport silver tints that make them appear almost metallic. Adding much-needed greenery to bare, needy areas in the winter garden, evergreen ferns favour damp, shady places and in the wild you’ll find them gracing woodland floors and the steep sides of ancient hollow lanes.

Older than the dinosaurs

Ferns are survivors.  Some of the first land-dwelling plants, their fossil record dates back about 350 million years. Although most of the earliest forms are now extinct, these intriguing plants helped produce the oxygen that made the existence of other forms of life – like us humans – possible.

Some, like the staghorn fern, Platycerium bifurcatum, don’t even need soil to survive. Instead these epiphytes cling to trees and get the nutrients and water they need from rainfall.

https://www.edenproject.com/learn/eden-at-home/a-guide-to-prehistoric-plants

In the garden

Easy to grow in the right conditions, evergreen ferns complement and make good companions for other shade-lovers. Rewardingly trouble-free, they’re really quite tough as you’d expect from a plant with such a long history. Resistant to most pests and diseases, they’re more or less slug and snail proof. And with a relatively small rootball, many will grow in a limited space. Some, like Asplenium scolopendrium and Polypodium vulgare, will pop up in the crevices of walls and other odd places and thrive.

Grow them:

• In shaded beds and borders or pots on balconies and patios with hostas and astrantias, heucheras and erythroniums.

• In a shady rock garden with ajugas and saxifrage, pulmonaria and cyclamen.

• In a woodland planting under deciduous trees with epimediums and primroses, foxgloves and winter aconites. Covering the gaps with bark chippings will enhance the woodland feel. They’ll also help to hold in the dampness that ferns love, help to keep weeds at bay and will gradually break down to enrich the soil with important nutrients.

You could also take a leaf (as it were) out of the Victorians’ book and create a stumpery – an area of upturned tree stumps interplanted with ferns. It’s an imaginative way to showcase these intriguing plants which at the same time highlights the sculptural beauty of wood in its natural form. If you’ve ever wandered through a stumpery you’ll know how atmospheric and mysterious they can feel. Stumperies are also, because of their nooks and crannies, important refuges for wildlife.

Gardeners’ World’s Joe Swift shows you how here:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bldrv

And next time you’re in Devon, the stumpery at RHS Garden Rosemoor is well worth a visit.

www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor/garden-highlights/the-stumpery

Evergreen ferns also complement each other when grown together; some are leathery and ladder-like, some are lighter-seeming and more feathery and others have a more solid, robust-looking form.

How to grow them

All hardy evergreen ferns will grow in dappled or part to full shade. Most like a damp environment but Polypodium vulgare will tolerate dry conditions. Ideally, add plenty of compost or leaf mould when you plant to give them a good start.

Water them in well after planting and if the weather is hot keep them well hydrated for the first week or so. Apart from this they need very little attention. Simply remove dead or damaged fronds. Mulch in spring or autumn with leaf mould or compost.

Height and spread can vary dramatically depending on the conditions in which they’re grown but we’ve given averages below.

Evergreen ferns for damp shade

Asplenium scolopendrium (hart’s tongue fern): as its common name suggests, the leaves of this plant are straplike with crinkly edges rather than being divided like those of most other ferns. Several, for example the Crispum group, have been bred to have more ruffled edges. They provide a good contrast to the feathery leaves of other ferns. Mature height and spread approximately 50 x 50cm.

Blechnum spicant (hard fern): glossy, slightly tough-looking, ladder-like leaves. Mature height and spread approximately 60 x 40cm.

Blechnum penna-marina: fairly low-growing with an approximate height and spread of 40cm x 1m. Subsp. alpinum is even smaller with a height and spread of about 30 x 60cm and is ideal for a shady rockery.

Polystichum polyblepharum (Japanese lace fern): lacy leaves with furry tips to new fronds like rabbits’ feet. Mature height and spread approximately 50 x 50cm.

Polystichum setiferum (soft shield fern): Larger than many ferns, it retains the delicacy of foliage. Mature height and spread approximately 1.2 x 1m.

Polystichum munitum: ladder-like yet airy-looking leaves. Mature height and spread approximately 1 x 1m.

For dry shade

Polypodium vulgare: architectural, ladder-like leaves. Likes damp shade like all ferns but will also be fine in quite dry areas. Height and spread approximately 40 x 90cm.

Semi-evergreen ferns

Not reliably evergreen these often, nevertheless, retain their foliage in mild areas or during the sort of winter that doesn’t bring a Beast from the East. It’s worth giving them a try!

Cyrtomium fortunei (holly fern): bright green leaves with black stems; the structure of the fronds is the source of this fern’s common name. Height and spread approximately 60 x 60cm.

Dryopteris affinis: young fronds are golden-green. Height and spread 90 x 90cm .

Dryopteris erythrosora: new fronds are an autumnal bronzy or pinkish red and mature to dark green.

Older than the hills, ferns are the sort of plants that merit close examination. Getting up close and personal reveals the astonishing detail and complexity of their structures. Low-maintenance and able to thrive in areas that many plants would reject, evergreen ferns add beauty, year-round interest and structure to your garden.