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I planted some ferns last year but as I've never grown them before I left the leaves on over winter and now the frost has got to some of them. Should ferns have their old leaves cut back and when should I do it?
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AKA Angie -
With deciduous ferns, I tend to leave the dead leaves on over winter and then cut them back just as the new shoots start to appear - unless they look such a mess that I can't wait that long. With evergreen ones I cut off leaves as and when they look 'dead' or brown to make room for new growth. What kind of ferns have you got? -
Ermmm sorry this is going to sound really dopey. They came as a pack of 5 but I only have the latin names on sticky labels and I don't know which is which but one of them has definitely stayed green over winter. These are the latin names:
A.Felix femina
D.Carthusiana
P.Scolopendrium
O.Purpurescens
D.Crispa
The other 4 seem to have disappeared, Im hoping they've just died back and are not dead!AKA AngieComment
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Looking in my book...
Athyrium filix-femina: 'Lady fern' - deciduous, occasionally semi-evergreen, whose common name relates to their overall elegance and grace
. Has fine, lacy fronds.
Asplenium scolopendrium: 'Hart's Tongue Fern' - evergreen. The leaves will start to shrivel as new fronds unfurl in spring. It also says it needs less than 3 hours sunshine a day, or it'll get a yellow discoloration or brown lesions on the fronds: oops, sounds like mine!
Purpurescens: well that just means 'purple'...
Dryopteris filix-mas 'Crispa Cristata': 'Male Buckler fern' - technically deciduous, but does not die back completely in autumn. It says here. Well-crisped and neatly crested fronds.
Can't find the other one!Comment
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Awww thanks for that, I will print it off. The other one seems to be another type of buckler fern, just googled it.AKA AngieComment
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