Polystichum setiferum (Soft Shield Fern)

This fern is known as ‘the type’. This means that it’s the true Polystichum setiferum as opposed to all the masses of different and confusing types or forms of Polystichum setiferums.

Grows to 3ft across and 1ft high – quite flat and spreading. The easiest and most forgiving of all the ferns we do. Evergreen and soft but we’d always advise to cut these down in early March so they come back in April as fresh as a daisy. Light shade and good organic soil (see below).

If you have a new house and a new garden (especially in an area where clay predominates), the chances are that your garden has been ‘re-profiled’ by the developers : clay compacted by heavy machinery, then covered in a few inches of topsoil. The process of turning this into a garden will be gradual and largely accomplished by your addition of organic mulch, the bacteria that breakdown the mulch and the worms that assimilate the broken down mulch into the ground. This is a part of the process of creating soil. If this is the starting point, there are lots of things that will establish and begin the process but unfortunately, ferns are not one of them. Either grow them in a pot or wait for a few years. Ferns are fuss pots and will only grow in good friable, well drained soil with lots of organic content.

Propagated by us by frond cuttings

Hardiness level Green

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IF IT HAS A GREEN TRAFFIC LIGHT

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Hardy anywhere in Britain below approximately 1000ft (300m)

This is only meant as a guide. Please remember we're always on hand to give advice about plants and their frost hardiness.

Please remember that these coloured labels are only a rough guide.

General Point about Plant Hardiness: The commonly held belief that it's better to 'plant small' is perfectly true with herbaceous plants, but not necessarily true with woody plants. They need some 'wood' on them to survive severe cold - so plants of marginal hardiness in very cold areas should really be planted LARGER, rather than smaller, wherever possible.