ROCK GARDENS
Hardy Ferns for
Rock Gardens 2
When grown in rock gardens,
therefore, the dead leaves should not be
cut away in autumn, but should be allowed
to remain until after the frosts of the following
spring. In their natural habitat ferns also
receive a good supply of water during the
winter months whilst they are dormant. These
conditions should, therefore, be imitated
as closely as may be in the garden. The soil
in which the ferns grow should not be sodden
with water in the winter, but if planted
where they do not receive the natural rainfall,
they should always be provided with a sufficient
supply to keep the roots cool and fresh,
and to encourage them to form good strong
growths When they begin to sprout in the
spring. Ferns like a good, deep, loamy soil,
with ample leaf-mould, peat, and some coarse
sand in it, and although kept moist, it should
be well-drained, for ferns cannot bear a
water-logged soil. They are especially intolerant
of heavy clay. A compost of one part of fibrous
loam together with one part of leaf-mould,
peat, and sand will be found' suitable to
most ferns. There are just a few which will
flourish only in boggy and marshy places,
but even these prefer their water supply
to be in the form of a running stream or
from the occasional overflowing of a pool.
Among these water-loving ferns is the well-known
and popular Osmunda regalis, the Royal Fern,
which may be found on warm and sheltered
stream-banks and under wet cliffs in the
southern counties. The ferns which grow in
the cracks Of walls and in the crevices among
rocks, and therefore apparently exist in
dry conditions, do not do so in reality.
Their fibrous and spreading roots penetrate
the cracks in all directions and find coolness
and supplies of water in the hottest weather.
Ferns grown on a wall or in the rock garden
do the same thing, so that it is not sufficient
to give them rocks to creep amongst; they
must also be able to find good soil and an
ample supply of moisture under and among
them. In planting ferns together, a good
deal of care should be expended in their
arrangement, and the evergreen and the deciduous
kinds should be evenly distributed so that
no one particular patch of soil shall be
bare and uninteresting throughout the year.
The Athyriums are fine native hardy ferns,
deciduous, and therefore only seen in leaf
in summer, but well worth growing. The best
varieties of the Athyriums are all hardy,
but sometimes require a little protection
to the young fronds in spring. The Hart's-tongue
fern, Scolopendr um vulgare, is a very well-known
native kind, and looks very beautiful lining
a hollow bank or ditch with its long, shining,
strap-shaped fronds. It has a great many
varieties, all of which are evergreen and
succeed best under cultivation on steep banks
in the shade, and in a light, loamy soil
of a calcareous nature.
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