In message , Bigal
writes
K;843916 Wrote:
Torbjörn Svensson Diaz writes-
Would ferns count as weeds? Do they prolifirate aggressively? If I
plant a lot of ferns in a garden will my neighbours be mad at me? Will
the ferns spread to my neighbours? I like fern-coated trees but if
they destroy neighbours' gardens I don't like them so much anymore.
Are there different kinds of ferns, some of which are suitable for
gardening and some of which are not?
-
Most ferns grow in clumps, and these won't spread too aggressively (and
are easily uprooted if they do).
A few ferns spread by creeping rootstocks. The most obvious of these is
bracken, which covers a lot of our hillsides and would be a nuisance in
the garden. The other creeping ones are more delicate and less
aggressive - at least the ones that grow wild in the UK.
There are also a number of ferns which are not native to the UK but
will
grow well here.
Most garden centres will have a stock of ferns.
I can't think of any ferns which grow on trees which would cause a
problem. But these ferns aren't so easy to find in a garden centre.
--
Kay
I thought that you could identify a fern by the spores on the leaves.
If that is the case, bracken isn't a fern. It just looks like one. I
once lived in Wales but worked in Aston university, B'ham. I was
asked if I could bring in some bracken that was wanted for some
research. The arguement was that I had brought back some male fern
and not bracked, Until I pointed out that there were no spores on the
leaves. Does it help???
Bigal
Bracken is a fern. Some ferns have both fertile (spore-bearing) and
sterile fronds; others, I presume, have only fertile fronds. In theory a
fern could have only sterile fronds, and propagate vegetatively, but I
would be surprised if that was the case for bracken. I suspect some
misunderstanding along the line.
(Quite possibly pteridologists can identify fern species by the
distribution and shape of the sporangia.)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley