Please let me know if there is a better group to post in, seeking some advice on how to trim ferns and manage this walkway. To be honest, I’m not sure what plants were intentional and what are weeds. Thank you in advance!
Beautiful thriving shade garden you have there. If it were my yard, all i would do is add a chair or two somewhere to sit and admire it, read a book on a hot day, etc.
workbalic66
Leave it dude. People spend a lot of time and effort to get that look.
CaptUSSChiliDog
This is gorgeous.
Virtual_Library_3443
I’m trying so hard to MAKE my shade garden look like this! Love the moss on the bricks!
lotusblossom60
Leave it just like it is! How idyllic!
ReagansJellyNipples
Bruh. I would kill to have fern growth like this
Ignus7426
A piece of advice for new homeowners I heard from Mike McGrath on “You bet your Garden” is when you are a new homeowner take the first year to just watch and observe. Learn what is growing in the garden and what is blooming each season. I’m sure there are plenty of things around the house to address. Tackle those before you start trying to redo landscaping.
Of course any obvious weeds or dead plants can be removed. Maybe a good first step would be to pressure wash the bricks and see if that helps make things look cleaner.
Cool-Clue-4236
Thats gorgeous!
Don’t do it. What you’re thinking will destroy this garden.
If anything.. pay a trusted gardener to come and show you what needs to be pulled/maintained.
That’s about it. Enjoy
Money_Loss2359
Those are great fern drifts. You can just clip them at the ground. Won’t hurt them at all. If you’re wishing to remove some they root very shallow like grass. I’d be adding Hosta, huchera, brunnera etc. That will be a lovely shade garden in the future with the addition of a few plants and weeding. There is a fern Reddit and hosta Reddit. Might even be a shade garden Reddit.
Queasy_Ad6504
The one weed I definitely see is Japanese stilt grass.
It’s that airy, grass like, plant next to the path.
It’s easy to pull, I would do that soon, it’ll be setting seeds soon.
Everything else looks gorgeous!
Specialist-Driver-80
Are those rhododendrons on the right of the path in pics 2 & 3?
They’re going to make your next spring quite magical with the floral show, but do be careful not to ingest any part of the plant, as they are neurotoxic
lastlaugh100
Don’t fuck with it. It’s so majestic.
Rookraider1
If you like all the ferns you can cut them back around April 1st and you will promote new growth. You could also thin it out a bit. If you can’t tell if it is a weed then pull it out. You can pressure wash the path to clean it but that will remove the moss that is growing and there will be clean up afterwards as the pressure washer will spray dirty water onto the ferns
HawaiianHank
weeds are essentially anything you do not want growing in near or along the walkway, or anywhere in your yard, and rob the nutrients, space, and aesthetically pleasing vibes from the plants you do want to see and grow more of. i.e. there’s no right or wrong answer in this scenario. use a free plant id app and decide for yourself. 🍻 good luck.
Spectralshot23
Ferns should be cut all the way down in late winter/early spring before the new fronds emerge
proscriptus
Whole thing is lovely. Lean into the cottagecore.
yukumizu
The ferns are awesome! Great garden you have there.
But do focus on removing the invasive Japanese stilt grass growing at the edges and before it goes to seed. Pull from the root and discard in the trash, not the compost bin.
You have some virginia creeper (5 leaf native vine that is good but can get rowdy in the garden), I’d keep it.
I would remove the English Ivy and Pachysandra as they are invasive, outcompete other plants, and can get out of control. If you don’t want to remove these, at least keep under check.
You have several tree saplings (oaks and tulip poplar) that you can cut, pull or transplant somewhere else, as you don’t want these getting too large in those garden beds.
And watch out for poison ivy. Remove with gloves or paint the leaves with herbicide before it spreads too much. There’s a bit of it against the structure to the left of the third picture.
I would also feed the plants some Holly-Tone in the fall or next spring. This fertilizer is great for acid loving and woodland plants like Rhododendrons, Evergreens, Ferns, Mountain Laurels, Hydrangeas, etc. It will help with better plant health and flowering.
porkchopmeowster
Hit the brick with trimmer line. Takes a while but works. Same for a Lil fern haircut. Blow off after.
geekybadger
Get a plant id app (inaturalist is popular) and start id-ing anything you don’t recognize. Remove or trim anything that’s a problem (like completely blocking pathways, or if like a baby oak tree is growing too close to the house or something), learn your areas bylaws to make sure nothing you aren’t willing to fight for is going to cause trouble , and for everything else just wait and watch. See how the yard grows over the seasons. Then decide what you want to do next.
Full_Sun5350
The ferns on the left in the first picture are garbage ferns. They will take over everything and are hard to get out, as their roots are all joined underground, forming a mat. The only fern of value is the large, many branched one. It looks like it’s growing in the wrong place. If you want to move it, wait until spring, when it’s just starting to come up and the leaves are still furled up. It will be easier to move. The walkway needs to be fully exposed and cleaned, any uneven pavers repaired. There are so many choices for plants to put next to the path. You’ll have to determine its available light and other variables to determine which plants
Reasonable_Lake_6356
Scrub the concrete and bricks
JudeBootswiththefur
I don’t know what type of ferns those are, but I have them in my yard. I took them from a friends yard. They have spread immensely. Even if you wanted to thin them out they would just come back.
JayBolds
My only thought of caution is what looks like a mimosa near the house corner in pic 3. I love mimosas but they have to be kept in check. The roots can spread even below your brick pavers.
If it’s a cinnamon fern then nevermind.
Brilliant_Thanks_984
Looks like a planned out landscape id just google how to prune you local plants u got
TreeOfAwareness
I love it. Whatever you do, use a light touch
illinoises
Where can I get bulk ferns or seeds?
Ok-Creme8960
Clean up the vegetative growth (keep the roots, ferns are robust), even out that pathway, pull the grass. Good to go.
OldschoolScience
If you are worried about the ferns hanging too far into the path you can trim those few leaves that are hanging over to the base and the plant will be fine. Beyond that I would just clean up brick path and then it will look amazing.
ZealousidealName8488
Just trim back the individual leaves that hang over the walkway far enough to bother you, clip at the bottom of the stem. The ferns are great and a good choice for the amount of shade your yard has. As others have said you can pull the stilt grass and add hostas ect
pattywagon95
I’d start by power washing the walkway, would be one of the more satisfying power washing experiences I’ve seen. Just beware of all the crap in between the bricks jumping up when you spray it, maybe get a surface cleaner attachment. I personally would leave the ferns because they look all whimsical and shit but you could always wack them back, may just look a little goofy having them end abruptly
Commienavyswomom
Keeeeeeep those ostrich ferns! Spring fiddleheads are amazing to eat
ErikLaFlare
If it were me I’d go back wards and take my time cleaning up and seeing what you’d like to keep. Pressure wash path, pick weeds out – you’ll find what’s local to you with a quick Google search.
Alarming-Mix3809
Don’t you touch it.
GUN5L1NGR
Light pressure washer or a nice scraper to the brick and some weed pulling and you’re good..
Nervous-Award976
You are so lucky
BluuWarbler
Lovely! Congrats, tdrizzy!
nicfunkadelic
Kill the ferns. Don’t listen to the hype. Anything that’s growing where you don’t want it to, is a weed. Don’t be shy, fight the overgrowth. It all grows back anyway, unless you take further steps.
MaxPower836
You live on Isla Nublar?
StillaRadFem
People are really into these ferns, as you can see from the comments. I personally loathe them, and consider them very unsightly. I would pull them all and plant hostas and coral bells instead. That is simply personal preference.
The baby oak tree(s) though, should be moved. There is no space for a tree like that next to the house. If there is space elsewhere in your yard, replant it there.
40 Comments
Those ferns are gorgeous! Wow!
Beautiful thriving shade garden you have there. If it were my yard, all i would do is add a chair or two somewhere to sit and admire it, read a book on a hot day, etc.
Leave it dude. People spend a lot of time and effort to get that look.
This is gorgeous.
I’m trying so hard to MAKE my shade garden look like this! Love the moss on the bricks!
Leave it just like it is! How idyllic!
Bruh. I would kill to have fern growth like this
A piece of advice for new homeowners I heard from Mike McGrath on “You bet your Garden” is when you are a new homeowner take the first year to just watch and observe. Learn what is growing in the garden and what is blooming each season. I’m sure there are plenty of things around the house to address. Tackle those before you start trying to redo landscaping.
Of course any obvious weeds or dead plants can be removed. Maybe a good first step would be to pressure wash the bricks and see if that helps make things look cleaner.
Thats gorgeous!
Don’t do it. What you’re thinking will destroy this garden.
If anything.. pay a trusted gardener to come and show you what needs to be pulled/maintained.
That’s about it. Enjoy
Those are great fern drifts. You can just clip them at the ground. Won’t hurt them at all. If you’re wishing to remove some they root very shallow like grass. I’d be adding Hosta, huchera, brunnera etc. That will be a lovely shade garden in the future with the addition of a few plants and weeding. There is a fern Reddit and hosta Reddit. Might even be a shade garden Reddit.
The one weed I definitely see is Japanese stilt grass.
It’s that airy, grass like, plant next to the path.
It’s easy to pull, I would do that soon, it’ll be setting seeds soon.
Everything else looks gorgeous!
Are those rhododendrons on the right of the path in pics 2 & 3?
They’re going to make your next spring quite magical with the floral show, but do be careful not to ingest any part of the plant, as they are neurotoxic
Don’t fuck with it. It’s so majestic.
If you like all the ferns you can cut them back around April 1st and you will promote new growth. You could also thin it out a bit. If you can’t tell if it is a weed then pull it out. You can pressure wash the path to clean it but that will remove the moss that is growing and there will be clean up afterwards as the pressure washer will spray dirty water onto the ferns
weeds are essentially anything you do not want growing in near or along the walkway, or anywhere in your yard, and rob the nutrients, space, and aesthetically pleasing vibes from the plants you do want to see and grow more of. i.e. there’s no right or wrong answer in this scenario. use a free plant id app and decide for yourself. 🍻 good luck.
Ferns should be cut all the way down in late winter/early spring before the new fronds emerge
Whole thing is lovely. Lean into the cottagecore.
The ferns are awesome! Great garden you have there.
But do focus on removing the invasive Japanese stilt grass growing at the edges and before it goes to seed. Pull from the root and discard in the trash, not the compost bin.
You have some virginia creeper (5 leaf native vine that is good but can get rowdy in the garden), I’d keep it.
I would remove the English Ivy and Pachysandra as they are invasive, outcompete other plants, and can get out of control. If you don’t want to remove these, at least keep under check.
You have several tree saplings (oaks and tulip poplar) that you can cut, pull or transplant somewhere else, as you don’t want these getting too large in those garden beds.
And watch out for poison ivy. Remove with gloves or paint the leaves with herbicide before it spreads too much. There’s a bit of it against the structure to the left of the third picture.
I would also feed the plants some Holly-Tone in the fall or next spring. This fertilizer is great for acid loving and woodland plants like Rhododendrons, Evergreens, Ferns, Mountain Laurels, Hydrangeas, etc. It will help with better plant health and flowering.
Hit the brick with trimmer line. Takes a while but works. Same for a Lil fern haircut. Blow off after.
Get a plant id app (inaturalist is popular) and start id-ing anything you don’t recognize. Remove or trim anything that’s a problem (like completely blocking pathways, or if like a baby oak tree is growing too close to the house or something), learn your areas bylaws to make sure nothing you aren’t willing to fight for is going to cause trouble , and for everything else just wait and watch. See how the yard grows over the seasons. Then decide what you want to do next.
The ferns on the left in the first picture are garbage ferns. They will take over everything and are hard to get out, as their roots are all joined underground, forming a mat. The only fern of value is the large, many branched one. It looks like it’s growing in the wrong place. If you want to move it, wait until spring, when it’s just starting to come up and the leaves are still furled up. It will be easier to move. The walkway needs to be fully exposed and cleaned, any uneven pavers repaired. There are so many choices for plants to put next to the path. You’ll have to determine its available light and other variables to determine which plants
Scrub the concrete and bricks
I don’t know what type of ferns those are, but I have them in my yard. I took them from a friends yard. They have spread immensely. Even if you wanted to thin them out they would just come back.
My only thought of caution is what looks like a mimosa near the house corner in pic 3. I love mimosas but they have to be kept in check. The roots can spread even below your brick pavers.
If it’s a cinnamon fern then nevermind.
Looks like a planned out landscape id just google how to prune you local plants u got
I love it. Whatever you do, use a light touch
Where can I get bulk ferns or seeds?
Clean up the vegetative growth (keep the roots, ferns are robust), even out that pathway, pull the grass. Good to go.
If you are worried about the ferns hanging too far into the path you can trim those few leaves that are hanging over to the base and the plant will be fine. Beyond that I would just clean up brick path and then it will look amazing.
Just trim back the individual leaves that hang over the walkway far enough to bother you, clip at the bottom of the stem. The ferns are great and a good choice for the amount of shade your yard has. As others have said you can pull the stilt grass and add hostas ect
I’d start by power washing the walkway, would be one of the more satisfying power washing experiences I’ve seen. Just beware of all the crap in between the bricks jumping up when you spray it, maybe get a surface cleaner attachment. I personally would leave the ferns because they look all whimsical and shit but you could always wack them back, may just look a little goofy having them end abruptly
Keeeeeeep those ostrich ferns! Spring fiddleheads are amazing to eat
If it were me I’d go back wards and take my time cleaning up and seeing what you’d like to keep. Pressure wash path, pick weeds out – you’ll find what’s local to you with a quick Google search.
Don’t you touch it.
Light pressure washer or a nice scraper to the brick and some weed pulling and you’re good..
You are so lucky
Lovely! Congrats, tdrizzy!
Kill the ferns. Don’t listen to the hype. Anything that’s growing where you don’t want it to, is a weed. Don’t be shy, fight the overgrowth. It all grows back anyway, unless you take further steps.
You live on Isla Nublar?
People are really into these ferns, as you can see from the comments. I personally loathe them, and consider them very unsightly. I would pull them all and plant hostas and coral bells instead. That is simply personal preference.
The baby oak tree(s) though, should be moved. There is no space for a tree like that next to the house. If there is space elsewhere in your yard, replant it there.