On 9/1/08 14:23, in article , "Eddy"
wrote:

Thanks, Sacha. Ferns do well in this area, the hedgerows harbour them,
and there are several big clumps on the border of my soakaway-lawn
already. I know they erupt from big fleshy "pods" - with delicate roots
on the underside of these. I wonder if these hair-like roots WOULD
penetrate a few feet if they sensed the moisture beneath?

I like the idea of several groups of tree-ferns, in twos and threes of
different heights, with lots of more ordinary ferns inbetween and
scattered around. This would look less "unkempt" than a wildflower
lawn - which, anyway, I believe needs to be mown and maintained if the
wildflowers are not to be overtaken by the grasses. I had a go at
wildflower garden at another property, in West Wales, a couple of years
ago, and the first year it was beautiful. Despite cutting it as advised
in autumn, the next year it was predominantly buttercupt - magnificently
buttercups for several weeks in fact, and by the third year only one or
two individual wildflower plants had managed to stand the competition
from ranunculus and grasses!

Eddy.


I think wildflower lawns are things of great beauty but it's not just a
question of chucking in some seeds, no. They do need a particular regime of
care, AIUI. Charlie seems to think tree ferns wouldn't like your climate
but I wonder if they'd survive if wrapped in straw for the winter. Sally
who has just waved to you from Ludlow might know, or your local nursery.
Otherwise, it might be as well to make a virtue out of necessity and see
what you can find in the way of ferns that you like. Googling around, I
found these people but this isn't a recommendation because I've never had
any dealings with them. Their range is pretty large, though and they have a
special 'Ferns for wet places' section, too and comments on how to cope with
tree ferns in the UK climate. The Equisetums sound interesting:
http://www.fernnursery.co.uk/


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'