What do do with ferns?

[dooleysm]

My wife has some ferns hanging in planters along our porch. Winter is approaching and she's wondering what to do with them. The options, as I see them:

1) Bring them inside and try to keep them alive over the winter.
2) Plant them outside so they become permanent landscaping.
3) Throw them in the compost pile.

Does anyone have experience with any of these options? The only one I'm positive I can make work is number 3.

 

[meledward23]

Try #1, if it fails#3 still works

 

[Nat]

I was hoping someone would say #2. Vickie always hangs them from the front porch and they have grown so big that they block my view. Last year I put them under the house, we have a basement, but also a small crawl space, they didn't make it over the winter. She bought some more this spring and I've took them down 400 times so she could water them. I suggested we turn them loose so the could grow naturally, I told her they would be happier and would make the woods happy also. Later, Nat

 

[arthr31]

whatddya mean winter's coming?

Ferns, if they are local, are hardy. They'll die back with the first hard frost... If you want to keep them, plant them NOW. when they die back from frost, clean up the debris and leave them be. If you really care, mulch them. Otherwise the should come back next year. You can transplant them or re-pot them pretty easily.

I've graded entire areas with ferns with my tractor, or ran them over for an entire summer and they come back. Hardy...

If they are fiddleheads, plant them now and you'll have a nice harvest come spring...

good luck.

My wife has some ferns hanging in planters along our porch. Winter is approaching and she's wondering what to do with them. The options, as I see them:

1) Bring them inside and try to keep them alive over the winter.
2) Plant them outside so they become permanent landscaping.
3) Throw them in the compost pile.

Does anyone have experience with any of these options? The only one I'm positive I can make work is number 3.

 

[dooleysm]

We're going for #2 then. Where should we plant them? Shade? Full sun? Partial sun? Anywhere?

 

[Nasty135]

dooley, Before you plant listen to this.... My wife always bought new ferns every year to hang around our front porch. Eight boston ferns every spring time $$ she would whine about it justifiably... Well last year I hung a stick of rebar in the lower bay of my bank barn (it doesn't freeze there) and watered them about 4 times or so through out the winter. they made it!! Once it warms up they are ready to go back on the porch... The first year we did this it was great until someone (not me) opened the garage door and it stayed open to long and got too cold for them and they expired

So if you have access to a somewhat insulated partially underground dwelling you might be able to save them... here in Md. it usually does go much lower than the twentys at night but will sometimes go down to single digits...not bad IMO..

 

[midlf]

If you try #1 you will find out what bugs and other pests are on them when those critters spread to the indoor plants. Don't ask how I know but it took weeks to correct the problem. There is a reason for the sale of sterilized potting soil for indoor plants.

 

[arthr31]

ferns, like hosta, seem to prefer shade. The ferns i'm most familiar with in the N.E. (that's north-east for y'all) like damp, upland woodland areas with good shade... Maybe i'll post a pic of the ferns we have, grow wild, but are starting to die back now with the cool nights (we've seen 38F one night a week ago... oh no, chilly! ! )