Before I get carried away, can I....

Hi,

I'm trying to redesign my back garden on paper first and turning it into a Japanese garden, but before I get carried away with myself, can I put ferns & hostas inbetween the fence? My back fence is built by planks with gaps between each one and as you can see, I've trellis fencing on top of it because last year I planted a climbing rose on the other side which I trainning it come through to the back garden.

I've an idea of having ferns & hostas covering the back fence to make it more lush. Would I use pots stuffed between the fence? Or should I hang pots on the fence? Or what would you suggest? I live in the North East England.

Thanks

Calum

 

Hi Clum

Looking good already , I would sugest a drip irigation that would make watering easier I dont see why you cant , but I think outside would be easier , ie repot move them about etc like in spain with the pelegoniams hanging from the clay pots

Spruce

 

Hi Spruce,

Thanks for your quick reply. How big of pots would you suggest, would it be alright for frost & snow? Also would these big leaf ferns & hostas be suitable for doing that?

Cal

 

Clum

Normaly with big leafed plants you need big pots you could go for smaller type hostas and Ferns but you could group 3 together I know hostas can take the cold but a lot of the ferns including the native ones to the UK can be slightly tender to leave on the fence over the winter but they arnt going to look good then you could keep in a sheltered part of the garden reput them up in the spring. How sunny is your garden ?? ferns and hostas to suit all parts of the garden just have to know which ones are best another question for here , lots of ideas from GC will arrive soon I am sure we will see what others have to say a very intresting thread

Spruce

 

Hi Spruce,

My back garden faces west, so really anything on the fence would be facing east. I'm also thinking about having tall bamboo or trees on the south side of the pond to create a bit of a sun break. So hopefully this will make it better for the ferns & Hostas. My next task is to look at the type of ferns & hostas and take into consideration your point about small plants.

Cheers

 

If you can get i-player, there was a Gardeners' World episode a few weeks ago dealing with both hostas and ferns. As others have said, there are varieties of both for almost any aspect. I've seen vertical planting which has created a wall of ferns but I'm sure those were planted into crevices, not containers. I have two places in my garden where ferns have colonised and since then I've added more to make ferneries. Both have very shallow soil (one is a wall) and get no direct sun at all. I've done nothing except add a few ferns I've found elsewhere to those which found their own place and I leave them alone and they just grow. Hostas I've only grown in pots. I've never had a problem with snails but all of my hostas stand on pot feet and I have copper tape around the pots. They're notorious as snail food so you may have a problem on a fence as snails will have easy access. My hostas stay outside all year but I do protect the pots in winter, I haven't lost a hosta yet so I'm either very lucky or they're very hardy. I've found that over the years they seem to fill whatever pot I've put them in so maybe look for smaller leaved varieties for smaller pots and larger ones for larger pots?

Anyway good luck with the project it sounds as if you'll end up with a beautiful green wall. Please post pics.

 

Hi,

I've have the recents GW episodes, so I'll watch them back again

Cheers