Tree Fern Dicksonia Antarctica Winter Damage

[@kathleendoyle6601]

Love your "leave well alone, nature knows best" I'm a yoga teacher and gardener and everything gets there at its own pace, without interference. I had same difficulty with Rio, one of my big guys. All black fronds and panicked....Rio, needed time and produced 15 lush leaves...Nature really does know best Mark, as you know. Happy New Year and brilliant work, 🙏 Namaste and thank you Kathleen x

[@bobgoodman2687]

Thanks, nice vid. Mine still not showing signs of life but will continue to leave well alone and be patient! I stuck a spade through what I thought was a dead banana tree root yesterday and it was fleshy and healthy (hopefully enough left undamaged by me to recover) so have learned my lesson

[@uwedornenburg3994]

Hello Mark, thanks for your gorgeous Video. I am growing treeferns for one year only and I am very happy about their growing the First Summer here in Germany. I do have some more sensitive Treeferns than Dicksonia Antarctica like Cyathea felina, Cyathea cooperi or Dicksonia squarrosa. They are all in my greenhouse now since the German climate can sometimes be extremely frosty Like we experienced the last couple of days. I completely agree with you to being patient with these gorgeous Ferns until spring. I am sure, they will send up new fronds pretty fast again in spring. Two weeks ago i received 2 more D. antarctica but as a raw stem freshly imported from Tasmania. The stems are so big i couldn’t Lift them allone. But the are Both potted now and have got. their first soaking with rainwater to activate their growth. So Even I have to be patient until upcoming spring in March/April. Please let me know, when your huge Treeferns start growing again. I am sure, they will be more beautyful than before. Kind regards Uwe

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hello Uwe. Thank you for this wonderful comment. It sounds like your collection is very interesting and growing fast!! Did you see my little video about black tree ferns? I'll post it below. THANK YOU again for watching and commenting. Best wishes. Mark

[@pascalsantej664]

Your channel is really great! I'm from Austria and I love tropical plants and thanks to your videos, after a good 2 years I've got a small oasis with palm trees, bananas and now this year finally two large tree ferns from Tasmania (it's been a dream of mine for a long time) They're very expensive ! But now I've treated myself to two, one 280 cm high and one 200 cm high, which I will use this spring and follow your tips. Since the temperatures here on Lake Constance are similar to those in your home country. Many thanks for your videos!!! Greetings from Austria at Lake Constance ☺️👍🏼☀️

[@TheEnthusiasticGardener]

Hi Mark, thanks for this video. I’ve always wanted to get one of these but worried about any cold weather destroying them, as they’re expensive. I’m in Essex, England. But I’m glad to hear your reassurances, so it’s still on my wish list. Happy New Year 🎉🥂🎈

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi Again. They are amazing but also a worry. I'll feel better when i see them sprouting in the Spring. Best wishes. Mark

[@newyorktropicalgarden9364]

I was given two medium sized tree ferns this fall of unknown variety. They are doing great in my garage but I'm going to start researching keeping them outside. I'm in New York where it is much colder than your zone, but there are gardeners here who have figured it out with protection. Great videos keep them coming.

[@granzy500]

Great video

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

And thank you again 😊

[@HaydnMowbray]

I 100% agree with your approach and analysis Mark. Mine have all had their fronds similarly damaged and I've also cut them off. The combination of heavy snow and a week or frost upon frost was too much for them. Roll on spring!

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Thanks haydn. Hope yours come back strong. Best wishes. Mark

[@markborder906]

One point about the low temperatures that Dicksonia antartica can survive that is rarely mentioned, is that much depends on the amount of time the are below freezing. I their homeland although they go down low, they usually get above freezing during the day. Here in the U.K., they can be below freezing for a week or more at a time. This is where the damage is done. The rest of your comments I agree wholeheartedly with you. My oldest tree fern I bought just over 30 years ago, for £2.50 from Rickard’s Hardy Ferns, as a small plant. It now has 2 foot of trunk, for the past 10 years (in my current garden, East Sussex) the only protection has been the oak leaves that fall into the crown.

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Thanks Mark. Yes fair point that. Thank you

[@AmirsAllotment]

They are stunning plants, I have never had ferns this large. They have a stunning canopy in the summer months. Some great observations and re-assurance, I know ppl panic, I do with my banana, but they always bounce back

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Thanks Amir. We all need a bit of gardening good luck this year :-) let's hope all our plants bounce back. Mark

[@tikitropicals65]

The results of the sensor in the crown is very interesting. The lower temps I get the more insulation I add temporarily. I have a nursery near me that lost about 20 Dicksonia in their garden in 2010. The logs are now used as edging to the path. Always reminds me not to be to complacent.

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi. Yes i remember 2010. We lost our first little collection that year. Very cold. Mark

[@juliebrace8637]

Hi, I'm a newbie, I love tree ferns even though I haven't got any. Interesting content. Happy New Year. All the best for 2023. 🌴🌴

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Thank you very much Julie. Best wishes and Happy New Year! to you too. Mark

[@juliebrace8637]

Hi Mark, If you ever decide to sell your cuttings I'd be happy to purchase as I'm from Stoke-on-Trent. Myself and hubby grew veg last year for the 1st time and we were successful. 🌿🌱🥬🥦🍅

[@andyfarmer759]

Hi Mark, I have never considered haing tree ferns but found your thoughts interesting. I am a firm believer that on the whole perenial plants are better equiped at surviving than we give them credit for than us. If you follow basic rules like you have, the plant itself will do the donkey work. I hope your trees do ok.

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Thanks Andy. I agree. Fingers crossed these bounce back. Time will tell. Mark

[@jamesdavison4549]

Good video.please keep us informed and i hope they are fine

[@roberthamilton2334]

Hi Mark, I think with the insulation our tree ferns should survive the frost damage OK, spring will tell!

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi Robert, yes it's in the lap of Nature now, only time will tell. Short of bringing them al into the lounge I don't know what else we could have done. Best wishes. Mark

[@seancooper9552]

Hi Mark… based on your videos, I use the same winter protection method as you, with the same type of insulation, although I also added two layers of the insulation on the top to protect the crown… one layer froze completely through and I had to change it for fresh insulation about a week into the cold snap… I immediately removed all the protection the day it warmed up to allow the warmer air and rain in. Will re-wrap if another cold spell is forecast. The fronds on my ferns are still mostly green, despite having been covered in snow and ice for a few days, although one or two have completely crisped up… and the rest seem now to slowly be turning brown in places. Did yours turn brown almost overnight or over several days? I recently visited RHS Wisley, where they have numerous tree ferns planted out in a woodland setting. They are under a high tree canopy, and none of them are wrapped with fleece or other synthetic insulation. I believe they had similar lows of -8. Their larger ones appear to only have straw stuffed in the crowns, and the smaller ones appear to have preemptively had the fronds removed folded/cut up and placed in and over the crowns. (Im not sure why some had this treatment, whilst others did not. It might have just been a height issue and what they could reach they cut(!) although being a fairly frequent visitor, I believe many of those that had their fronds removed were new additions this year, so perhaps they believed the fronds would not have hardened off, and so removed them.) A few of their larger ones look to have damage to a similar extent as yours, if there is any consolation in that fact! As they do not seem to have had any additional protection (unless removed soon afterwards (which I doubt because of the number of ferns and the amount of work it would take)), I can only assume that Wisley has faith that the plants are indeed quite tough! I’m certainly taking some consolation from that!

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi Sean, thanks for this, further reassurance. I'm also quite concerned about our colocasias, despite being inside I think they may have been damaged. only time will tell. Fingers crossed. Best wishes for the year ahead. Mark

[@Tomdexterscott]

I'm really worried about mine. Still nothing and we're in the middle of May. I protected it over winter. But the crown is still very soggy and I can see some fronds but they feel hard and look black. In 2021 they didn't spring into life till middle or late June. But I think I can remember feeling the fronds.

[@cathtf7957]

Awesome

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Thanks. They're all starting to grow again. Mark

[@davidbanner9001]

Mine looks very similar at -5. Leave well alone, including the old fronds. I'm not sure who goes around the Tasmanian forests cutting off the fronds so they look immaculate? Only joking it's your fern do what you want with it. But personally I won't touch mine until late spring and maybe not even then. I can already feel new growth in the crown, plenty of knuckles. It's been in the ground less than a year. I'm actually hoping the new growth doesn't come through to soon. That could also be damaged, it's a long way until spring.

[@tedscott1478]

Hi Mark, thanks for a very helpful and reassuring video🙂👍 What part of the country are you in?

[@sylvialappin1409]

Hi Mark what was the name of the white insulation for the tree ferns you had from bnq.

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi Sylvia it's in their dial range. Recycled plastic. I also show it in this more recent video. Thanks. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3yXg556i8h-gKM

[@sylvialappin1409]

Thank you lve ordered it now.

[@emilyhunt2129]

I live in Florida and we had a hard freeze this year for 4 days my 3 tree ferns are soft and mushy in the middle are they dead ? Can’t find any information hope you or some one can give me advice. Tks Emily

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi Emily are they definitely dicksonia Antarctica? I'm sorry to hear this. My course of action would be to leave them alone. Just wait. A few months even. Be patient. If there is any life in them at all they may fight back. I had one which did nothing for 18 months then recovered. I would not cut the tops off as you suggested in your other comment. Good luck. Mark

[@emilyhunt2129]

@@MarksHouseandGardenUK Thank you for responding!! I will wait it out 👍

[@garryleeks4848]

Hi mark im from Essex, I’ve got a bottle brush which has gone all dry, I know it’s a evergreen, don’t know if you know about bottle brushes , wondering if it’s dead, Thanks

[@Diana-cf7cc]

It is spring & mine look dead 😢

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Oh I'm sorry to hear this. But it is still early. We have 7 and 2 have yet to show any real signs. Don't give up hope 😊

[@steverichardson4374]

Do you cut the old ones and youse for mulsh around the base

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Hi steve. These fronds will be cut off and go on the compost heap. Eventually they will be mulch on the soil. Mark

[@SwoOopy]

Having the Budda head as decor dooms you guys.

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

I suspect not. I believe trying to be a good person is more important than superstition on the path to enlightenment. Best wishes.

[@johnhenderson6352]

Grow plants from Ur country. Leave ours alone. That's absolutely criminal.

[@MarksHouseandGardenUK]

Well these would have been burned i suspect in your country's commercial land development if they hadn't been exported for profit.

[@k9Issey]

I have had one in a pot for 10 years - this year is only time I can’t feel any new fronds 😢 I am gutted but will wait and see if it co Es back this year. My only problem with them is that over the years the trunk has got narrower? So not sure why or if there is anything I can do about that. If it has died can you cut it in half and replant? Would that work? Thanks for very informative video.