Slow Life Blog from the Lake District
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Me

Surprising Survivors Part 6 -The Tree Fern

18/8/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture

Picture
Our tree ferns sit under a canopy of yews, which give them protection, much as the eucalyptus trees would protect tree ferns in their native New Zealand. We never wrap them in winter because the fronds look good all winter long and it would be a shame to make them ugly with wrapping, especially as they are close to the house and we see them every day. Last winter, for the first time, the fronds were hit by the frost and snow and turned brown long before any new fronds emerged. Some of the tree ferns were so battered that they didn’t get round to producing any new fronds until mid-July. It’s a good lesson never to give up on a plant. 
I remember hearing a questioner on Gardener’s Question Time asking what to do about a tree fern which hadn’t produced any fronds- and they were  told, with great authority, that if it was still dormant by the beginning of July they should throw it on the skip. Bad advice. Tree ferns can remain dormant for more than one season. I have a 12 foot tree fern in the Orangery which I bought for next to nothing as a dead log and after a little mollycoddling it sprang back into life.

The above picture was taken today; the one below on 20th December last.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    ​About Slow Life

    The idea of Slow Life is to take the principles of Slow Food, which are “good, clean and fair”, and extend them to life in general.

    Here in the Lake District, the air is clean, the pace is slow and the atmosphere is calm. If we don’t grow food ourselves, we can buy it in friendly small shops, where you know the quality is going to be the best.

    This blog is a celebration of the Slow Life, with forays into the world of design, music, the arts, gardens, and my particular weakness, Japan.

    Archives

    June 2017
    December 2016
    August 2015
    May 2015
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009

    RSS Feed

Home   |   About Me   |   Contact Me

Jonathan Denby's Slow Life blog from the Lake District

© Copyright Slow Life 2020. All rights reserved   |   cookie policy    |   Site by Treble3
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Me