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Moss, Ferns & Cryptogams

wild fern bed

15 years ago

I have a large bed of wild ferns next my patio that come up every year. By mid summer the bed will be full and beautiful, but right now it looks a little scrapy as the ferns are just starting to fill the area.

What can I use as a mulch that will cover the bare ground that won't keep the ferns from sprouting? If I plant anyting else here it would have to have a shallow root system as the roots of these ferns pretty dense.

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Comments (2)

wisconsitom
15 years ago
Hi Artlover. If it's mulch you're wondering about, any organic mulch material would be fine............wood chips, shredded bark, cocoa hulls if you like using them....etc. Ferns easily come up through such materials.

If it is a groundcover plant you wish to work with, the choices are many. Once again, ferns are well able to accomodate growing in and among such plants.

+oM
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
15 years ago
Tom's right.
I use Fir bark to mulch my fern beds, as well as cast needles from my Redwoods.
I also have some contained Equisetum (Horsetails), and mossy rocks as centerpieces
during the Winter. At the moment, my fern beds are full of Forget-me-nots.

Josh
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