I have some really great maidenhair ferns growing under the "slops" water
tank on the farm. They get early morning sun from eight o'clock until about
ten o'clock and their feet wet when I overflow the tank ( 2 inch pipe at
10,000 gallons per hour!) as a flush cycle prior to filling the house tank
on about a weekly basis with a rich red clayish loam. This soil will turn
into a sloppy mess that swallows cars in the driveway when it rains!

Under the direct shade of the tank they have taken control and are the
dominant species. I keep them and the weeds around the outside of the tank
under control with a whipper snipper. I have agapanthus growing next to them
and it is 9 feet wide and 2 feet wide then about 10 feet by 15 feet of canna
lillies. They all like the wet ground!

Keep wetting them with a good soaking and don't let them dry out in summer!
I am near Toowoomba with hot summers and cold winters. They don't get many
frosts, (three good ones a year?) and recover fairly well. Maidenhair and
bird's nest ferns grow up the back yard at the spring.

I found they do not transplant well, low survival rate!

Hope this helps,
Peter

"Andrew G" wrote in message
...
Hi all.
Is there a special mix needed for birds nests ferns in pots?
I currently have 2 small ones I saved from my Fathers old property (as
well
as other ferns) with the owners permission before total destruction.
I bought potting mix as well as orchid mix which I was going to combine
for
a very aerated mix, but have been told by a workmate that it won't hold
enough moisture and that his are growing in poor natural soil in his yard
(actually the person who visits this NG from Wingham NSW may be able to
tell
me the natural soil type there, that's where he's from).
Do they keep well in pots, say for 3 years, or any other ways I could use
them? They were naturally growing on logs.
Anyways that's about it, but I really don't want do kill them and even
though I did my trade in parks and gardens horticulture I don't have much
experience with ferns.
Thanks for any advice.

Oh, and I know removal of such plants is kinda illegal, but you try
hearing
that all these ferns are going to die, ones you saw and admired when you
were a kid. I hate to even think of the large stags up in the trees that I
couldn't get to are going to die anyway.