Help with Tree Fern.

I have had my tree fern for 3 years and last year we decided to put in the ground.
For the winter we put hay in the top cut it's ferns off and popped a lid of polystyrene on the top followed by a fleece which was wrapped all round the trunk. The base has got wood chippings around it.
A couple of weeks ago i took the hay out and found that it was very wet inside the trunk.
Each day since i have popped some paper towel in to soak the wet up but everyday it is still wet. Today i have had a look and the wet has bubbles in it.
Do you think that it could be rotting from the inside? If so is there any way of saving it?

The tree fern is a Dicksonia.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Hi Sad news for lots of us sound like the winter has killed it , Iam still waiting on my four but Iam not hopeful

What height is yours as mine are quite tall so Iam thinking of buying 1 foot ones and grafting in to the top as they cost £££ a lot and was a main feature in my garden I do understand how it makes you feel as I have been bubling with rage with what has happened
Spruce

 

Panic not meantime
Last year I was sure mine had died. It came back. This year it is still looking rather dormant. I wait patiently. I suggest you do the same

 

Sadly, bubbling sounds like its fermentingOUCH Which is only a good sign if you're making beer out of it

Not checked out the ones in our local woods since the snow, but i'm guessing all that will be left of them will be the micro chips

 

Thanks spruce.
Ours measures about 3 and a 1/2 feet.
Is yours in the ground or a pot?
We only put ours in the ground last year but it has a lot of bark chippings around it.
I think grafting is a Great idea. Do you know how to do this?
Also i think i am going to build a shelter this year and any new things that i buy will go in there for the winter.
I have also lost all my phormiums and palms. Did have a nice tropical theme going on, now looks like ground zero:gaagh:

 

Hi your garden has the same plants as me , the ones you metioned as well mine have gone to compost heaven ,, with the grafting try and get one with the same width , what Iam going to do is cut a V shape in the original log then do a inverted V in the new one put them together and just hammer in some 6 inch nails to keep them in place them regulary water in the summer

Let me know how you get on , I will have to go back to going over the top with protection rather than just covering the top part of the crown I used to put 4 canes in then chicken wire then pack with straw from the bottom up I have also used autum leaves to do this as well then a horticultural fleece wraped roud the chicken wire didnt look that nice but it done the job
But I do understand the dissapointment ....... its not even the £££ i JUST FEEL BAD ABOUT IT I SHOULD OF KNOWN BETTER
Spruce

FORGOT TO SAY IN THE GROUND

 

Hi all
Update I have ordered 1 foot trunks as all 4 have died !!!! gggrrrr.

So I have given then the trunck size so we will wait and see , still sticking to my plan cutting a v shape in and a inverted v into the original trunk couple 6 inch nails to hold it in place , I will deffo keep well watered during the summer and will go crazy with protection this winter , why they say "handfull of straw in the crown " will do !! as it didnt as lots of us found out


Spruce

 

Hi Spruce, must admit I've never been convinced Dicksonia or any other tree fern for that matter was truly hardy.

But I guess a series of mild winters combined with a large import of them convinced people.

Must say I'm interested in your grafting technique, is this something you have tried before?

As I understand it the trunk of tree ferns are composed of roots running down the trunk to ground level.
Bearing that in mind, could you not wait to see if the trunk shoots from lower down.
Cant actually see how you can get another plant to grow on top unless it roots into the old stem fibre which would need to be soaking wet I guess at all times.
More kind of growing a new plant on top of the old one which is dead.

 

and maybe a very expensive way to kill a new plant?

 

Hi Pete

No first time doing this and Whis4ey I dont buy plants to kill them I have to much respect for them.

I have grown tree ferns for over 15 years and that one is now 5 feet tall and I bought it at 3 feet high and the other 3 range from 10 years down wards 3 feet and 4 feet high.

Fed during spring and summer on a seaweed extract .
Like you have mentioned about the trunck being fiberish with old roots and fronds so I cant see why they woudnt root into the original trunk and the v and inverted v should make a good union
It was one of the main features in my garden.

I will keep well watered and thats easy for me as I have a automatic watering system for the whole of the back garden with fine misters located on each trunk in my fernery.
Also Pete I have never known them to sprout out of the side once the top is dead , I know you can get multi truncks but on closer inspection it looked like 3 or 4 logs had been put together but they doo look amazing.

Iam sure others will find it intresting if it does work and to spend £20.00 instead of £££££ we will wait and see and if they dont well I have 4 new ones that will be looked after and not fooled into any more of a mild winter

Spruce

 

OK Spruce, I was just wondering if it was an accepted way of recrowning a tree fern or if it was an experiment.
I guess its an experiment.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Hi Pete it was on gardeners world as well a couple of weeks ago when they were visiting one of the gardens which took me by suprise , they were doing the same thing to one that had died but that was a huge trunk and they were planting in the top rathet than doing what Iam .
Plus years ago I think at Heligan gardens they aslo experimented with putting a new trunk on top and that was over 20 feet high that worked.
But apart from that I havnt read anything or saw it in a gardening mag ???

Yes I will keep you posted

Spruce

 

Hi

A tree fern that had died during the winter they planted a new one in to the top, which the guy said they had done before

Spruce