Hello, this is my first post.

I have problems with a tree fern that I've had for about 8-9 years. Originally I was advised by a garden centre to cut the fronds off each winter, fill the crown and protect the whole tree with garden fleece all of which I did and each year more fromds came. But as new fronds come from within the crown, it gradually got smaller and pointed. For the last 2 years the fronds have got smaller and smaller as there is less and less room so I'm now wondering what to do.

I wondered whether I should clip the crown down to create more internal room for new fronds, but I'm scared I might kill it.

It's in a very large pot as I was originally told there was virtually no root system (I've since learned that there is).

Can anyone offer suggestions please?

Many thanks,
Meg

Hi Meg, Seeing that this tree fern is in a pot, it sounds to me as if its been starved of water and food ? Its my experience that quite a few people dont realise just how much water they need, especially in a container ! How tall is the trunk and how big is the pot it's in ?? and is it kept in a shady spot ? As your on the south coast, in a 'normal' winter, it would just about be evergreen, so theres no need to remove the fronds, even with these recent colder winters, I'd suggest that you leave the fronds on, even if they go brown, as they will help give the crown some protection and then remove them in the spring AFTER the new fronds start to emerge if they are very tatty ! I'd repot it into a larger container and keep it well watered, especially watering around the crown. Also make sure you dont fill the container too full, so that you leave a gap into which you can add loads of water in dry weather.
Lannerman

"megsplot" wrote


I have problems with a tree fern that I've had for about 8-9 years.
Originally I was advised by a garden centre to cut the fronds off each
winter, fill the crown and protect the whole tree with garden fleece all
of which I did and each year more fronds came. But as new fronds come
from within the crown, it gradually got smaller and pointed. For the
last 2 years the fronds have got smaller and smaller as there is less
and less room so I'm now wondering what to do.

I wondered whether I should clip the crown down to create more internal
room for new fronds, but I'm scared I might kill it.

It's in a very large pot as I was originally told there was virtually no
root system (I've since learned that there is).

Can anyone offer suggestions please?


They also do that at Highgrove but I don't cut the fronds off ours until
they turn brown and are dead. A plant with green leaves is getting food from
them so why cut them off? At the moments ours is putting out nice new fronds
which are partly protected by the older fronds which will probably stay on
the plant for most of this year.
The fact yours is getting smaller each year means the plant has a problem,
not that it's too crowded, do not cut anything away. If the plant is treated
correctly and in the correct position it will grow big again in time. Have
you not got somewhere it could be planted out in the ground? Open aspect but
shaded from the sun and preferably next to a pond for humidity.
Do you feed your plant? The stem contains a lot of roots as does the pot and
they do need feeding like any other plant. I chuck a handful of chicken
manure pellets right on the top of ours each year. The stem also needs to be
kept moist so do remember to water it if it's dry. (like here the last
couple of months!)

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

g'day meg,

maybe you need to look to the watering? as they row taller they need
more watering over the crown than around the ground, don't know about
cutting anything but dead fronds off, if the plant needs protection
you could leave the fronds and still put a layer of protectection over
the crown.

if it has been lack of wateing set up a dripping hose into the crown
for about a week or when water appears to flood around the base.

On Sun, 1 May 2011 13:09:48 +0000, megsplot
wrote:

snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

and also: Isaiah 38:1&17-18 KJV

1: Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order: for thou shalt die and not live.
17: for thou hast cast all my sins behind my back.
18: For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down in the pit cannot hope for truth.

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Seek truth and understanding will follow"

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

Thanks to all of you for your advice and suggestions. In answer to some of your questions, the trunk is 2'6" (75cm) tall and it's in a pot approx 2'3" in diamater and 18" high. I've tried to keep it well watered but only discovered how best to feed it in recent years which I've done with home-made compost and plant food. It's in a shady place and partly protected by a high fence.

When I first got it tree ferns weren't quite so common nor was advice on how to look after them, so I think cutting off the fronds wasn't the best advice I was given though up til now it has been fine. I didn't do this last winter but still filled the crown, wrapped the fronds over it and covered the whole tree in protective fleece. I removed the fleece about a month or so ago and since then I have removed a few very tatty fronds. New ones are butsting through but as I said, as they unfurl they are very small and the crown looks cramped for room.

I did wonder if it didn't like its move from London 18 months ago but it has a slightly smaller companion tree fern sited close by which is thriving.

Many thanks to you all,
Meg

Anyway I shall investigate the possibility of planting it in the ground. A problem might be that the soil here is clay and not easy to dig deep for a root ball that might be as large as the pot.

Given that so many of the treeferns in Britain have been killed over the last winter, it does seem like putting them in the ground is now a bit of a risk. I seem to remember you live somewhere that had temps below -10, Bob, so you must have been very careful in protecting yours if you kept them alive in the ground.

"echinosum" wrote


Bob Hobden; Wrote:
Have you not got somewhere it could be planted out in the ground?

Given that so many of the treeferns in Britain have been killed over the
last winter, it does seem like putting them in the ground is now a bit
of a risk. I seem to remember you live somewhere that had temps below
-10, Bob, so you must have been very careful in protecting yours if you
kept them alive in the ground.


Well I certainly couldn't put it under cover if it was in a pot, much too
big/heavy and the space is taken up with much more delicate stuff anyway.
I use the old brown fronds from it and other ferns to pack the top of mine
and wrap the sides around where the fronds come from, that's all. However it
is quite near and on the N. side of the house and protected by a wall to the
East. It's also close to our pond and the filters which run 365. I left the
snow on the plant too as protection as it wasn't too weighty.
Only two of the old fronds appear to have died and gone brown over the last
winter, the others are still looking good and protecting the young growth
which is another reason why I leave them on.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

g'day meg,

if it is in a pot then protecting from the cold could be easier if you
have someplace to move the pot to, for watering and feeding just
observe how the plant is designed it is in such a way so as to trap
water and nutrients down into the crown so that is the secret, plus
some marine soluable fetiliser applied to the fronds.

still counting on it being a dicksonia, so only remove the dead fronds
and as 'bob' said use those fronds for frost protection. with that
sort of trunk it won't be relying on watering around the root ball
that has to come from the crown.

as for the possibility of it being root bound i'm not sure if i would
be concerned as yet until it can be shown why the plant is shrinking
back, if the new wateing regime does not work over this season then
maybe it is root bound?

as they are an understory plant if it needs to be planted out then it
can be planted in a well lit situation under any sort of cover be it a
tree or pagola. then frost/snow care would not count, they will handle
the cold as if it is a dicksonia it is likley to have come from the
forest decimation in tasmania.

their roots aren't the type to cause issues like many trees can,and
ferns rely on a network of root at surface level to capture moisture.

also somethig to consider it works for palms, lift the plant out of
the pot cut off/remove about 1/4 of the root ball on 2 sides and about
1/3 from the bottom of the ball put fresh potting mix into the botom
of the pot and tamp down to minimise settlement, put plant back into
pot then fill the sides with new potting mix, again tamp it down.

maybe some independant research online might also help.

keep us informed please

On Tue, 3 May 2011 10:19:47 +0000, megsplot
wrote:
snipped
--

Matthew 25:13 KJV
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither
the day nor the hour wherein the Son
of man cometh"

Mark 13:33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is".

and also: Isaiah 38:1&17-18 KJV

1: Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order: for thou shalt die and not live.
17: for thou hast cast all my sins behind my back.
18: For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down in the pit cannot hope for truth.

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Seek truth and understanding will follow"

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

I had wondered about reducing the root ball but is this the right time of the year to be doing it? My garden is very small with only one ideal place for them, so not much digging room, but with help, as it's rather heavy for one person, I shall have a go at repotting which will give me a chance to see the size of the root ball, and increase the watering etc.

Thanks again,

Meg

In article ,
says...

Bob Hobden;919661 Wrote:
Have you not got somewhere it could be planted out in the ground?
Given that so many of the treeferns in Britain have been killed over the
last winter, it does seem like putting them in the ground is now a bit
of a risk. I seem to remember you live somewhere that had temps below
-10, Bob, so you must have been very careful in protecting yours if you
kept them alive in the ground.




--
echinosum


I think gardeners in the uk are far too tidy (me included) and we tend to
remove the heavy skirt of old dead fronds these plants carry in the wild,
left on they protect the truck and with debris in the crown they will
happily survive our normal winters, mine loses all its fronds each winter
usually well before christmas, but even here in wet cornwall it has its
own drip irrigation line and I keep it very wet
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Hi all new to this site, picking up a few historical threads on tree ferns, I have two 12 year old tree ferns, I say 12 they were 7 footers when I got them from MULU 12 years ago, they still put out fronds but despite only using rainwater and using tree fern fertiliser you can tell that year on year they are not thriving although some years are better than others. The crown on one is wide the other appears to be narrowing, with the fronds on both pencil thickness compared to the old fronds that were as thick as a sausage. Reading the threads I think I an going to dig out the current spots they are in and give them a really good rich compost base and then work out some kind of rainwater delivery drip to the crown. If anyone has any good ideas help would be appreciated.
I am in Hampshire and the water is chalky so I think that might of been an historical factor. If its about location I could move them to West Wales to a relative but I would rather not!