Tree Fern advice please (Dicksonia Antartica)

Hi all i am new to this forum and this is my first post so please go easy. I have had my house for 2 years and slowly but surely i am getting my garden how i want. At the back i have a selection of tropical plants. ! Tree fern (5ft in ground) a Trachycarpus Fortuneii and torbay palms as well as some bamboo and a banana plant. Sorry for the boring intro. My question is yesterday i purchase 2 6ft tree ferns and want to know will it be ok to put them straight in to the ground now and start watering or should i wait. Also my existing fern should i feed it and if i do need to feed it what should i feed it

 

Hi Kev welcome to the forum.

Two 6ft tree ferns my I bet they look lovely!

Maybe you should be a little cautious depending where the plants came from when you brought them i.e.if thay were undercover they might need to get use to outside temperatures first or need a little cover on their crowns.

I'm sure soemone with far better knowledge than me will come along and help you out.Hel.xxx.

 

Hi Kev,

There is a cold snap ahead, so personally i would wait until that is over. However if you are keen to get them in the ground then put something into the crown of the tree fern to protect the new fronds which will be forming in there. Straw, or screwed up frost fleece is good for this, its a good idea to protect the crown over winter anyway. In terms of feeding wait till the spring, then maybe a very small amount of blood/fish/bone or a couple of pellets of chicken manure fertilzer. Dont add very much at all. Remember to keep them very well watered during the summer - watering the crown as well as the trunk. They take a while to re-root into the ground, so larger ones may need staking unless you bury a lot of the trunk into the ground.

The torbay palms are not actually a type of palm, but most probably Cordyline Australis (sometimes labeled as cordyline indivisa - true indivisa is rare).

[ 03. April 2008, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: Tropical_Gaz ]

 

Welcome Kev. I almost agree with Gaz (that is what GC is about, exchanging ideas) but I would wait a little longer before planting out. Gaz is an effete southerner but the soil temperature up here is not exactly Mediterranean yet. I wouldn't pop it in the soil until the end of May, beginning of June. I once lost a Phoenix when the air temperature was OK but the soil was still cold.

 

If you have somewhere frost free to keep them until it warms up a bit that would be preferable.
Less risk and less work TBH.

Do they have fronds on already, were they under glass in the garden centre ?

 

Hi guys thanks for all your reply's and warm welcome, as some have already stated we are going to have a cold snap so will wait, and yes i do have a frost free place i can keep them. I dont know how they were kept before i got them however they have no fronds on i ordered them of the internet, i will not name the place as not sure if this is allowed

 

For future reference Kev. Yes naming companies is allowed, in fact it's welcomed. We all like to know how you did with purchases. What we don't like is people joining GC just to promote their own products. Especially when its things like plastic grass.

 

Even i could have a decent lawn with plastic grass although having said that i have very little grass left now, just a couple of grass pathways which will go this year.

 

I have very little hair left. But I don't want people joining GC to sell me a toupe. :D :D

 

:D :D :D

 

Ah right thanks for that well the company i used for my tree ferns was seagrave nurseries.I ordered my 5 ft tree fern and Trachycarpus Fortuneii and cordyline from them 2 years ago and was well pleased with them then i used them this week for my 6ft ferns. Thet seem to have the cheapest price for ferns on the web as my local garden centre charge over �£300 6ft ferns

 

That is expensive for Tree ferns, I wouldn`t want to pay more that �£150 for a six footer.

 

David, Kev didn't pay �£300. He hasn't said what he paid. But come on. I'm one quarter Welsh. And I wouldn't pay more than half a dollar. That's because Welsh blood is very strong - where money is concerned. :D

 

Just to clarify guys i paid �£120 eah for the ferns which i think is pretty good value however you guys may disagree, again thanks for your thoughts and opinions and such warm welcome

 

Kev, I was referring to the price your local garden centre was charging. �£120 for 5 footers is the right price. When tree ferns first started coming into the country, about 12 years ago, the WHOLESALE price, was �£100 per foot. That price is now around the �£10 per foot mark. Giving a retail price of about �£23 per foot.