Dicksonia antarctica

In the bad winter of 2010 I lost my 2 4 ft Dicksonias.
Left me gutted, and in fact it totally put me off gardening for a year or so.

Yesterday I went to the Gardeners Club in Crews Hill, and they had quite a few Tree Ferns of various sizes.
So I gave in to temptation and bought myself a 2 foot one.
This winter I will be sure to really wrap it up with fleece. And maybe even an old blanket


(Btw, it has been planted out in the garden, not in that empty pot next to it.)

 

It's always gutting when you lose a fave plant. My big DA got dragged into the garage this winter, not taken any chances!

 

Although I must admit I do like the look of tree ferns, I think they have been overused and planted in some really alien environments.
I'm thinking this is part of the problem when it comes to survival.

Some bright spark digs them out of a nice bit of rain forest in Tasmania, then they get planted in full sun, hard clay, in a dry suburban garden, with a hose pipe shoved up there fronds .
Its enough to kill any self respecting tree fern.

 

Thats a nice looking one - Im a bit jealous ! Ive got three that size, the one I planted last year came thru the winter without loosing a frond. Ive also got six that came as plugs from EBay ... well, they could be anything really, but if they are DA then its going to be a real forest out there in 30 years or so.

 

When I was in New Zealand , I was actually fascinated by the fact that actually they can hold lots of direct sunlight .



and while we pay a fortune for one of them over here , over there they are making fences out of it .



overall really bad fences , as with the time they came back to life.





more then 80 different fern tree just in NZ , growing everywhere like weeds

 

Sal - You're giving me itchy feet! I would go back tomorrow, but the other half says that it's too far

 

I`m really tempted myself , but 25hr fly just to come back over here
My aunty in Christchurch told me that they are desperate for craftman , the weather is nice and the food is superb .....

and the fern tree are free ; )

 

Hahaha ... Priceless!

 

al n - I would plant mine in a pot so I can bring it in in winter, but I think they do much better in the ground.

pete - mine has gone into a shady relatively damp spot. So hopefully it will feel a bit more at home.

Oxfordnick - there were also some really small ones. But I decided that the bigger ones look better. I am not keen to wait for years for them to get to a decent size.

Sal - fantastic photos. Tree fern fence....now there is an idea!