Lady Fern Care Guide How to Grow and Maintain a Lush Fern Garden

The Lady Fern is an upright plant, a perennial native to the United States and Alaska. This graceful plant can reach a height between two and five feet tall. It boasts bright green leaves that have a fine, lacy texture. These fronds can grow from one to three feet long in the right, moist environment. The plant can spread between three and seven feet in diameter. However, this deciduous plant will still maintain a reasonably compact look. This hardy plant can be a great addition to any garden where you're looking to have that green-leafed backdrop. It also performs well as a ground cover plant for various applications.

Many names can refer to this lady fern. These include Athyrium Filix-Femina, Subarctic, Asplenium, Tatting type, and Common. It's derived from the wood-type family and tolerates heavy shade and rabbits. This non-flowering plant comprises between 20 and 30 pairs of non-opposite elliptic leaflets. Each one has a narrow tip point and is further segmented into subleaflets. On the underside of these subleaflets, you'll find clusters of spore-producing receptacles known as sori that take on a horseshoe-like shape. They will be covered with a transparent protective membrane known as indusia throughout the plant's development until it is ready to propagate.

Why Lady Fern is the Perfect Addition to Your Shaded Garden

This circumglobal perennial is widely used as an ornament in home gardens. It starts growing out in the early spring. You'll see its fiddleheads that have distinctive dark brown scales. As it grows out entirely, you can expect the plant's lance-elliptic leaves to have a width between 4 and 14 inches. Its stems will be slightly grooved and can range in color from green to light brown.

Top Tips for Planting and Caring for Lady Fern in Your Landscape

Lady Fern will remain beautifully luscious well into the fall. It will lose its leaves when the first frost comes. This plant is a highly sustainable staple that brings any landscape to life, offering expansive foliage in a pleasant bright green color. This particular one will continue to grow in circular clusters year after year.

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Choose early spring or fall when the soil is moist and cool to plant healthy bare-root ferns. You can also use dormant plants to grow year-round. When you arrive, please soak the roots in water for several hours to rehydrate them. Ferns thrive in moist and shaded areas. Dig a hole wide and deep enough to spread out the roots comfortably. Position the fern so the crown (where the roots meet the fronds) is just at or slightly below ground level. Gently backfill with soil firmly around the roots, and thoroughly water to settle the soil and eliminate air pockets. Apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch for weed control and to retain moisture, ensuring the mulch does not touch the crown. Water during dry periods is used to keep soil moist but not soggy. Avoid fertilizing in the first year, as ferns prefer nutrient-rich soil over direct fertilization.

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