The fernery

The Fernery

When we arrived, this was one of the few areas with any character: a hazel tree with a holly beside it, and lots of shade. I knew straight away what it wanted - a proper fernery, with spring bulbs and plants that actually enjoy gloom.

So we packed it with tall scented snowdrops, winter aconites, scillas, and masses of ferns, then added plants that thrive in semi-shade: crocosmia, daphnes, violets, and Martagon lilies, which come in a huge variety of colours now. Round the back of the tree there's Sarcococca for a wonderful winter scent.

In spring it's carpeted with colour, and it's also just a wonderfully quiet place to sit - you can even hear the ancient church bell, and it feels like somewhere you can properly hide. It's a calm area without too much intensity of horticulture - you can't do intensive gardening everywhere.

In this lesson you'll learn how we made a shady corner into a fernery, using bulbs and other shade-loving plants, and rambling roses up trees - with almost no upkeep once they're established.

A Favourite Trick: Ramblers Up Trees

This is also where we've let roses do what they want to do: we've got 'Rambling Rector' and 'Paul's Himalayan Musk' climbing up the holly and hazel - about 30ft now. It's so much easier than training roses on walls: up a tree they climb, cascade, and the scent travels on the wind. Birds love it too (and we get blackbirds squabbling over the hips in winter).

The trick is to get the root of the rose close to the base of the tree. If you're not able to, you may need to tie it to a pole to get it up into the tree, but this is rather annoying! Hopefully once it's in the tree, there's not much more to do.

The Madness and Joy of Cardiocrinum

We also grow one of the great wonders of shade: Cardiocrinum giganteum - the giant lily. It can grow to about 14 ft, then die down, and you might wait seven years for it to flower again. It's like a fairy tale. When it dies, it produces offsets at the base, but patience is the whole game - though if you plant one each year for seven years, you should get flowering every year. The seedheads are extraordinary too - like little crocodile jaws.

If you've got a damp, shady bed against a north-facing wall and you think you're stuck, honestly, Cardiocrinum is one of the most magical answers.

Plant Directory

Corylus avellana

Hazel (nut tree)

Hardy deciduous shrub/tree

Betulaceae

Ilex aquifolium

Holly

Hardy evergreen tree

Aquifoliaceae

Dryopteris species and cultivars

Male ferns or shield ferns

Hardy herbaceous, semi-evergreen or evergreen perennials

Dryopteridaceae

Galanthus species and cultivars

Snowdrops

Hardy bulbous perennials

Amaryllidaceae

Eranthis hyemalis

Winter aconite

Hardy tuberous perennial

Ranunculaceae

Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfeni

Mediterranean spurge

Hardy evergreen perennial

Euphorbiaceae

Daphne species and cultivars

Daphne

Hardy evergreen or deciduous shrubs

Thymelaeaceae

Viola species and cultivars

Violets

Hardy herbaceous perennials

Violaceae

Rosa 'Rambling Rector'

'Rambling Rector' rose

Hardy deciduous rambling rose

Rosaceae

Rosa 'Paul's Himalayan Musk'

'Paul's Himalayan Musk' rose

Hardy deciduous climbing rose

Rosaceae

Cardiocrinum giganteum

Giant Himalayan lily

Bulbous perennial

Liliaceae

Malus domestica cultivars

Apples

Hardy deciduous trees

Rosaceae

Urtica dioica

Common stinging nettle

Hardy herbaceous perennial

Urticaceae

Scilla species and cultivars

Squills

Hardy or half-hardy bulbous perennials

Asparagaceae

Crocosmia species and cultivars

Montbretias

Hardy cormous perennials

Iridaceae

Lilium martagon cultivars

Martagon lilies or Turk's cap lilies

Hardy bulbous perennials

Liliaceae

Sarcococca species and cultivars

Sweet box

Hardy evergreen shrubs

Buxaceae

Laurus nobilis

Bay tree

Hardy evergreen shrub

Lauraceae