Hello,
I have the same problem, except with an Oak tree. It drops tons of pollen everywhere. I'm not sure if this will help with a tree fern, but I hose the tree down and wash it off before it can drop. I do this at night, and it is a hassle, but if I don't the pollen will stain the deck. Can anyone can offer advice on my Oak?
Thanks, John

Great question!
I have a 11 ft tall australian tree fern, and I have to move. I want to take it with me. Anybody know about transplanting?

Aloha Nancy

I have not had much luck transplanting Hawaiian Tree Ferns up to 3 ft. tall trunk. They have surface roots. Try to get as wide of an area around the trunk as possible. It doesn't have to be to deep. They like moisture and will require a lot until established. even then most of the fronds will dry up. If it maintains new fronds forming, it will probably survive.

LApalmsCAL: Australian tree ferns are easier to transplant. I have transplanted 3 or 4 ft trees. 11 ft would probably require a landscaper with equipment to salvage enough root ball. They do not require as much moisture so will survive easier. You could buy a new Australian Tree Fern when you move. It wouldn't be as big, but they grow fast, even though it would take several years to reach 11 ft.

Good Luck
Phil

Tree Fern roots are the long stringy things on the trunk...best way (I have done a 10' trunk) is to dig out a "ball" around the trunk...about 8-12" off the tree, but tapering to a point in the ground (like an upsidedown wedge)..then plant it in the same kind of hole. Also, if you lay the trunk on the ground, even at a slant so that at least part of the trunk is touching the ground, keep it good a watered, the trees' growth will curve up towards the sunlight. I have done many of them this way. Keep it nice and damp...and you can even help it by piling very porous soil around the trunk on the ground.

Hi Nancy,

Can't help hanging out in this forum - an ex-pat here from Kona (Phil - you in Kona in '89?).... and need a regular fix. I'd feel deprived without my tree ferns, orchids, gingers, helaconia, and anthuriums here in Hollywood.

Australian tree ferns are a breeze to transplant just make sure you have enough root ball like Phil mentioned - very wide but not necessarily deep and plenty of water. Australians thrive in So Cal, our one footers are now over 8 feet in just 4 years, and yes, they do spore ferociously. Sure miss being able to hike above Hualalai and picking up downed Hawaiian tree ferns to bring home - the only down side was those monster centipedes!

Barbara

Regarding tree ferns, I do not have a transplantation problem but something (to me)just as troubling. My Australian fern tree is over 8 feet fall and as it is growing directly under a huge lateral branch of a kukui-nut tree, the top is getting bent out of shape as it tries to get under and around the kukui branch. I want to cut off about 2 feet from the top of the fern tree. Will new fronds emerge or will the plant die? I hate to lose the fern tree as it's been with me for many years. Mahalo.

Gee, Carney - I found some old tree fern logs in a logging area and brought them home, cut them up and planted anthurium seedling on them. ONE of them sprouted from the cut end....

What if you took a rope and pulled the trunk back so that it bypassed the limb of the other tree and kept on growing.

I am going to guess that if you cut off 2 to 4 feet of the top you could replant it (on its side) and the old one would sprout new growth. GUESS is the operative word here....they are really sturdy here....

OH, give it LLLLLOOOOOTTTTTSSSSS of water when you do it....

Aloha Barbara

I moved to Kona in 1994 when I retired. I visited many times in years prior to that.

Carney: Maybe this link will help.

http://farrer.riv.csu.edu.au/ASGAP/APOL27/sep02-8.html

Good luck.
Phil

Australian tree ferns seem to be easier to move than the Hawaiian hapu'u ones. I have three Australian ferns that were moved at three feet tall, they were dug up, wrapped in plastic and survived eighty miles sticking out of the trunk of a car to their new home. Lots of water for several months after transplanting and they did real well even though they were planted in a rather windy and sunny spot. I don't think the hapu'u ferns would survive there.

An old house lot nearby was being cleared and the dozer guy gave me a large hapuu tree fern clump. Five trunks four or five feet tall. I couldn't lift it so I dragged behind a van with a chain for about a block then rolled to the new location. (Yes, definate fern abuse, but better than the dozer!) I trimmed back all but the just emerging fronds and watered it twice daily for two months. That was a year or so ago and it is almost back to the original size. All the trunks have put out several new fronds and it is thriving and doing well.

Get as much of the root ball as you can and keep it well watered after the relocation. The hapu'u was relocated to a sheltered location and I think that did a lot to encourage it.

Good luck!

hi all i need so advice as to wether or not a australian tree fern can be cut down rather than dig up to be transplanted?

An old thread, but since nobody gave suitable advice at the time I thought it best to sign off the discussion with some kind of resolution. The only tree fern families that can regenerate from decapitated trunks are some Dicksonia and Cibotium - sawn-off Cyatheas CAN'T regrow without their rootball, nor without their original crown. So, if you are intending to move Cyathea cooperi (often misnamed 'Australian Tree Fern' on the US gardening scene) there is only one realistic option: dig up as much surface root mat as possible (they are very shallow but wide rooters) and transplant in a new location. Maintaining extra moisture around the roots and to the side of the trunk is likely to be the key to a successful operation. That first season will be the high risk period. But it's NOT possible to extend an outgrown Cyathea cooperi's life in a restricted-height location simply by lopping it in half (and new crowns can never appear on the left-over bottom half either). No alternative but to start again with a new one. But at least cooperi are quick growing by tree fern standards. (If you ask me, they should have no place in Hawaii given the invasive threat they pose to the slower growing native tree fern habitats. Cherish your own endemic species and stick with those.)

In contrast, both Dicksonia antarctica and all Hawaiian Cibotium 'Hapuu' varieties (four species, plus one naturally occuring hybrid) can either be transplanted whole, or regenerated in a prostrate position, or even decapitated and replanted at half the height. And yes, this time the left-over bottom half may well survive too, via its basal offsets or even via budding 'pups' which appear at almost any point along the trunk. Provided permanent moisture around the trunk is maintained during the season after the shock of the move - quite a commitment in a less than optimum site - they should in theory recover, building up a new root system inside a season.

Steve Pope - Brighton, Sussex Coast, England, UK

I posted a message re my decapitated Australian fern tree, the other day but, for the life of me, I can't seem to locate the post now. I want to mention to Keaau that I did take the drastic step of cutting off the top of the fern tree several weeks ago and planted the top in a container but to this date there is no evidence of baby shoots. I think it's "make" now. As for the decapitated mother plant, it too shows no sign of new growth. Do you think it's dead too?

Your post appeared, and was answered, under the thread Sadleria Cyatheoides 'Tree Ferns' In Hawaii. Yes, both halves of your decapitated Cyathea cooperi are dead. Cyatheas are more or less incapable of regeneration without an intact rootball, whereas Dicksonia and Cibotium species can be tranplanted in this somewhat violent fashion.

Steve - UK

Amen Steve! about native Hawaiian ferns. If you live in Hawaii, please try to grow our native ferns. A good source here in Hawaii is Kay Lynch of La'au Hawai'i. She is a strong advocate for native ferns. She's a bit pricey, but she grows quality, strong ferns. She can also answer about any question regarding our ferns.
Sphaeropteris [Cyathea] cooperi is a dreaded pest here and is systematically destroying some of our native forest undergrowth. I have hiked in some areas in and around Manoa Valley that are thrashed by this fern.
Another serious fern is the Mule's-foot, or giant, fern (Angiopteris evecta). This is a monstrosity and is literally overtaking some areas becoming the dominant plant! Dr. Daniel Palmer showed a group of us the original spot where they started there destructive path from Lyon Arboretum.
My personal plea:
Please buy only Hawaiian tree ferns. And DO NOT ever buy the Mule's-foot fern...please!

I hope somebody checks back here now and then! I just bought a tree fern to give it a try, but would like to put it in a bigger pot (in an average winter, I expect to have to protect it one or two nights if 30* F is its safe limit). It is a cooperi, though the large print does call it an Australian Tree Fern. So far, though, I haven't been able to find a "recipe" for whatever soil it prefers (potting mix, potting mix + ???, a special mix). Any advice from you experts is appreciated!

Thanks!

Sycamore1,

Any free draining organic mix will do. It likes to be continously moist but the soil should never be soggy, especially in cold weather. This is perhaps the easiest species to grow.