The woods behind my soon-to-be-built house in Northeastern Pennsylvania look like this. I love the ferns so, so much, and would love for my backyard to be covered in them. I’m assuming they need shade and maybe rotting leaves to grow because they’re all under large trees. There are no trees in my yard. Is there any way to replicate the environment they need with artificial shade? If not, does anyone have other suggestions to get a woodsy look in a not-so-woodsy area?
by ofnabzhsuwna
24 Comments
6a – Northeastern Pennsylvania
The area is woodsy, but my property is pretty suburban-feeling (most people have basic lawns). No large trees for shade on my property. My yard is a bit of a slope/hill.
There are some ferns that do well in full sun, afaik? But there will probably be strong competition from other plants if there is abundant light, I think
If you don’t have a wooded environment like this, I don’t think you would have success trying to grow these. A lot of native ground covers tend to be shade plants, if your property is full sun I think you’ll struggle to get this look.
Don’t have suggestions for you, sorry, but does anyone know what kind of ferns these are? I have them in CT too and don’t know what they are.
OP, I will say that these spread. Mine are in dappled shade and they do just fine. You can plant some trees once you move in and transplant a few ferns from the woods and they’ll start to spread over time.
If you want that many ferns you’re going to want to become a fern super nerd and propagate your own.
Search for Miyawaki method.
In short you plant saplings/young tree fairly close together, mimicking what you’d see in a forest. Dense planting forces them to reach/climb/grow quickly. Ignore tags on trees stating the tree needs 40-60 feet for spacing.
Plant in layers…tallest climbing canopy trees in the “middle” and understory trees “outside” or along the front/back.
Some cities offer free trees. Also grab a shovel and dig up saplings around the city in new developments, sprouts popping up in the neighbors yard, etc.
Note I’m a hobbyist..not a pro.
Start planting some trees asap so you can get the process going. Choose a few oaks, dogwoods, and cherry trees. Oaks grow really fast.
If it’s adjoining your yard it might eventually spread naturally. The lawn people just poison everything but grass to stop that. You can speed it up a bit by planting a few of the same trees.
I have dug up a few from my daughter’s woods and planted them in the part shaded area at the back of my lawn. They have spread some, need watering some. I have dogs that run through all the yard. I really need to dig more clumps.
You’re going to need to plant the trees and get some growth on them before you’re going to have much success with the ferns. I’m in the middle of the same process. My trees have another couple of years before they’ll be big enough to make hostas and ferns happy.
i have a bunch of ferns that have always grown in a little corner right outside my house. i think the house provides shade. you could always consider planting some trees. you might not be around to appreciate them in their full glory, but someone down the line certainly will. maybe a native apple or cherry
The main thing you need is soil that stays consistently moist without being water logged. Shade from trees will definitely help with this. But you can also just provide them with ample compost and mulch and a hefty watering between rains. Try planting a couple of trees on the south side of wherever you want the ferns to grow, this will block the mid day sun and they should thrive without needing as much watering.
Before I forget, how much land are you working with?
Someone recommended the Miryawaki method, I love reforestation, would prefer everyone employ Miryawaki. However, Miryawaki is intended for dense vegetation and bio-diversity. It’s virtually the opposite of what you’re looking for.
What you want is an ‘open forest’ with fern as the sole ground cover. (I’ve seen a few, natural acres of this in RI and it’s majestic, such a calming vibe). I do hope you decide to go fully native with this, it’ll be easy, there’s tons of gorgeous Fern native to the Northeast.
Most ferns like a slightly acidic, moist but well draining soil with “their feet in the shade and face in the sun.”
A good ratio for trees: honestly, planting only Red spruce will be fine however, if I were in your garden, I’d think, 1:2 ratio.
1 *Picea Ruben* (native, Red Spruce) to 2 *Acer saccharum* (native, Sugar Maple, the one that has the incredible flaming orange coloration in fall). Be sure to separate them by 20-35 feet so there’s *a lot* of filtered sun coming through, and once matured, remove any branches under 15 feet, this increases the top canopy while allowing early and late day sun to strike through. Don’t rake anything, let it all fall and collect, the ferns will go crazy for it. Once a strong colony of fern is established, it’ll be easy to maintain.
Yes! You can do this! Growing up, we had “woods” at the back of our suburban lot. As an adult, I see it was maybe 20 feet deep of trees and undergrowth, but as a child, it was a wonderful wilderness to explore, make forts, live in the wild! 😁👍
Hay scented fern can handle a surprisingly high amount of sunlight. They get a bit burned midsummer but other than that you can probably start transplanting chunks where you want them
this is probably what your yard looked like before it was clear cut to build houses. quit mowing and see what grows. it will take years, but you can slowly remove non-native grasses, etc and let the trees and ferns that animals/wind bring to your yard just grow.
good luck – it will be beautiful!!
Ok the few factors you need to create Fernageddon.
Most ferns like a lot of shade being woodland plants, they can tolerate a bit of sun but shade is the order of the day, so your first step is going to be plenty of fast growing trees to create the necessary shade.*
Secondly a lot of sources understate this, Ferns particularly when they are young loathe being dry, and not just in the the soil, like orchids they need a good bit of moisture in the air as well. A good way to address this is to create a few shaded micro ponds.
Thirdly they seem to appreciate in my opinion a good mulching now and again.
Finally patience, ferns are not exactly the speedy Gonzalez of the plant world, they will colonize favourable ground but slowwwlllyyy. Some bigger and older species have crowns you can split to speed up the process,
Also you can snip off the rhizomes in early spring to about half finger lengths and plant them to create more plants.
I have always thought woodland gardens are the best good luck!
* I do have a friend who accidently created a fantastic fern wall with no trees, by building a stone retaining wall to hold up a slipping hill behind his house. Its perpetually wet and shaded most of the day and they love it, so you can get by with no trees but shade is a must.
The land in NE Pennsylvania always wants to become woods, and it takes constant human intervention to keep it from becoming woods– so the cheapest path forward is to let nature take over that space while keeping an eye out for (and removing) any invasive species that are shouldering for dominance.
Yes. Ferns can grow in the shade of your house to start with. I have some ferns growing on the east side of my home.
That particular look involves deer browsing out most of the taller seedlings and smaller saplings.
For reference: diffuse porous trees too small to have heartwood yet, but bigger than seedlings are considered “saplings”. The boundary between seedlings and saplings is somewhat arbitrary, varying among studies and sub fields of forestry and forest ecology.
For example, because some temperate forest species can reach almost 50 cm tall in their first season, it may be convenient to call all woody plants shorter than 50 cm from potentially arborescent species “seedlings”. That’s even though some might be decades old, having waited in the “seedling bank” for a canopy opening disturbance.
There are ferns that like fun sun – ostrich fern, maybe royal ferns? I’d have to double check – but you can go full fern before the trees grow.
You could add some native shade tolerant wildflowers and shrubs like native azelias for interest.
If you stop mowing, the woods will move into your yard. I live in the woods and there are constantly thousands of saplings sprouting. If i didn’t clear them, the area around my house would become dense forest within a few years.
Make sure you check your township ordinance. My township, SEPA, once a developed land becomes lawn, you can plant plants to get ot something like this, but you cannot let nature take it’s course.