If you're living in a cool climate (such as USDA Zone 9, maybe?) you can grow tree ferns. But there are a few things you need to know, and if your weather is too cold for too long in winter, then it's probably not the plant for you. Unless you have a conservatory, of course (wish I had one!)

In San Francisco I planted 4 Cyathea tree ferns when they were about a foot tall. 15 yrs later, they are 20ft tall. They can grow quite fast if you give them plenty water and for the first few I years kept the total number of fronds to 5 or 6. The seem to grow faster if you prune the dead and majority of fronds off. They will constantly put out new fronds. They may not look full and lush as ones left alone but if you're wanting height quickly that's what worked for me. Now I only trim off the dead fronds hanging down and let them be as full as they want. Cut up or chipped fronds make an excellent spongy mulch around the base of the ferns.

There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice with tree ferns but I found him believable and competent

The best video on tree ferns that I have come across so far! Thoroughly enjoyed and very informative. I do not need to look any further.

This is the most informative video I have found on the Dicksonja Antarctica tree fern. We have had ours for about 2 or 3 years, live in the UK, and have it planted in a small half barrel type of planter. Having lost our last much smaller one to frost, we now treat this one like a baby - wrapping it in hay for the winter! It is currently about 3 ft tall and right now, in late April, is starting to sprout many baby fronds! We get so much pleasure from watching them unfurl! Thank you again for this really great video!

Stephen is delightful. Thanks, Alexandra for including his advice and knowledge.

FASCINATING! Thank you, Stephen. Thank you Alexandra. (If my life depended on it, I would never have guessed that the 'trunk' is part of the root system; I would have just puddled water around its base!)

I’m in an area where they grow wild ( Warburton Victoria) got some on my property and they are everywhere when you go for a walk , So beautiful when it’s just nature at work and you don’t have to do a thing

Excellent info and tips for a novice tree fern owner much appreciated

One thing I have learned about Tree Ferns in pots: if you have them in pots and have to move them for any reason, make a mark on the pot to show which way they were originally 'facing' and keep them facing as near to that same direction as possible. If you forget, their fronds tend to twist and bend and they don't look as attractive. The new growth the following year will be fine, but you will have 'spoiled' your Tree Fern for that season, depending on how drastic the difference in direction was. Yes, I did this once and learned my lesson, but my lovely window cleaner - who is really good at negotiating his way through all my plants around the house - didn't know, and I didn't notice he had turned the pots.

This was fantastic, thank you very much! I'm in Canberra and have about 20 ferns on the cooler side of the house under a massive pergola with shade cloth. The climate is incredibly dry and we get extreme temperatures from -7 frosts through Winter (with sunny daytimes) to 40 degrees Celsius in Summer (and no rain for months). We have a microclimate due to the shade cloth but also have a misting system along the boundary of the pergola to keep the air more humid and moist for the ferns. We still need to hand water during the Summer. Thank you for the expert advice especially about the sugar wives tale.

A drive up through the Dandenongs, and other parts of eastern Victoria, will leave you breathless with the beauty of the abundant treeferns, and very tall, straight trunk trees as the canopy. It is rather magical.🇭🇲

Great video, straightforward information. more please.

Nice, I love ferns in my garden, but mine are 1-2 feet in height. Our temps can go down to -20 C so no tree ferns for us. I still love seeing and enjoying seeing what other people can grow. Always enjoyable, thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊

Thank you Alexandra! That was a very informative video. I don't know that I have ever seen a tree fern and I learned a lot today. Thanks so much for your effort in sharing info with us.

Thankyou for the excellent video, Alexandra! I adore tree ferns and learnt so much!! I'm in Melbourne, Australia, and feel extremely lucky to have temperate rainforests full of tree ferns all around me. And, yes, I have them in my garden! 🥰

What a great video, thanks! I'm a beginner in the gardening matters (just moved from small apartments my whole life into a 900m2 block, lots and lots of work to do!) and it's great to find such a complete video with all infos you need coming from a true expert.

Thank you for the video! My mum bought a tree fern for my garden and I have been desperately searching the internet for information on care. Each site has had bits of information missing. Your video has been full of information and wonderful to watch. You've gained a new subscriber!

Loved this video! You make such great content Alexandra! I had never even heard of tree ferns but I'll watch anything you post ❤💚

14:40 exactly the info I was looking for. I bought a small Dicksonia antarctica last summer for only 10 quid, but it didn’t seem to overwinter well, even though I kept the crown covered with leylandii trimmings. Great quality content on this channel!

Great knowledge here. Very enjoyable and informative video. Thank. I love ferns and have two small collections - one down the side boundary garden bed, interspersed with large shrubs that provide dappled shade, and one under a large Chinese elm tree in the front garden. They are both fledgling collections but so far my favourite is Doodia Media. It is a stunning fern with red new growth. I don't yet have a tree fern but having seen the beautiful Dicksonias in this video growing happily underneath an elm tree, perhaps I will give it a go under my elm tree. By the way, Dicksonias, when estabished, are hardy as can be. My daughter has one in her garden, and for ten years it has thrived with absolutely no attention other than having leaves that grow over the front path removed from time to time. It is in a raised bed surrounded by shrubs of varying heights (rhododendrons, azaleas, indigofera, camellias, agonis, among others). I think the tough part is getting them established, in the right position.

Wonderful video, thank you so much... 💕💕💕💕

Full of information. Really interesting. I learned a lot here.

great advice best iv heard thank you

‘This is a fantastic video full of information. I have previously killed a tree fern in the uk as l did not know how to water it properly Thank you so much I feel much more confident now about replacing it

Thank you, a very helpful video on my favourite addition to the garden. I have recently just got another decent size one after losing a 5ft one around 8 years ago when we had -20c here in the U.K. I’m keeping this one in a pot to ensure I can move it if we have another bad winter. This one I’ve made a nice compost mix with some chicken manure so it should be happy. I’m looking forward to seeing the new fronds coming out to see how it looks.

Stephen you legend, awesome summary. It has got me thinking though, what have I bought! Lots of attention and slow growth..... IF it's still alive. Oh boy!

Great review. Thought I knew how to care for my two tree ferns but I was wrong on a couple of points. Thanks

Extremely useful info thank you ☺️

beautiful plant. My garden is just warm enough for the smooth variety, so I wish I knew about thirty years ago. My fan palms survive the cold with covers when they are small. Once large on below zero nights I will place a fan sprinkler on the crown and let it water all night. It is pumped well water so not wasteful. I feared that so much watering in winter might cause mold, but so far so good. Any thoughts?

Great video. Very helpful. I have inherited a tree fern in UK. Which has a branch (pup) now growing for 1-2 ys. Can this be removed and replanted as another tree, if so how is this best done and when. I expect to move the main tree also in the spring.

Does hard tap water effect the growth of tree ferns? Great video with lots of helpful tips. I had a dead 1 ft tree fern, which ai left in the pot but kept watering it and has now started throwing out baby ferns from the bottom! Never give up on your plant!

Thanks for this video, very helpful. I was wondering, I have a 4ft Dicksonia in a pot, and have to water the trunk regularly to prevent drying out. ... but am I at risk of rotting any roots in the pot? Is it possible to over water? Also when you say it mustn’t dry out, does this mean internally? Because the exterior gets within an hour of watering it... thanks in advance for your help!

Beautiful trees! Thank you for sharing.

Excellent video! Great information here - thanks guys.

Hi Alexandre, would love some info on ground ferns please. My favorite plants.

I planted one last year & it was 36 inches high & it seems to have grown to 42 inches in 1 year, I have watered the trunk daily in summer.

Great video - best on KZfaq. You sound like Theresa May by the way.

Great video footage and in depth information. Thank you

Thank you brilliant

That was so informative , thank you x

Great video with so much info.... Thanks so much for sharing...💖💝

Really informative video - thanks!

Excellent information - great tutor 👍

Many thanks

We have some rough type that are very tall and quite sickly and now the trunk tops are getting pointy. Are these just too exposed? They have no canopy above and have south facing tin roof under them. Worried they are dying 😢

Loved this video. I live in zone 10 Miami, Florida. Can Cyathea Australis be "potted" and placed close to a window where there is a bit of light throughout the day?

Great video is it true that tree ferns only have feeder roots and no other roots like anchor roots

What is the best time of year to move a tree fern

Great video thanks for the help

Excellent video, thank you.

Thanks for that.

I live in Dallas Texas area code 76028. A green fern plant grown out in same pot of my Rose bush. I thought it was another new Rose shoot. This bush now grown fast. Have no idea what it is could you help me figure out what this thorn plant is.?

Thank you.When to prune a tree fern (in the year),pls

How do you propagate tree ferns.

Our tree fern has died back but now has fronds coming up from the soil around the base, why would that be? It is in a large pot

Hi,just brought a tree fern and I live in the uk. I gonna plant the tree in a pot outside with soil and mulch, in your video you feed the tree if you're gonna plant in a pot do you feed the trunk or the centre of the plant. And one more question. I will move the tree in my conservation during cold season do I still water and feed the fern

I have two healthy ferns,can I cut the trunks to a lower height?

Дякую за видиос

Where can I buy big ones in the US?

So do they handle full shade? I always though they died because they where in too sunny a position.. And tended to put them in as close to full shade as possible. As i seen so many in almost full sun looking really healthy being there for years.. And Stephen has pointed out that they seem to handle it OK.. the ones on that property are in the open on the side of the hill, so they must be getting a fair bit of sun? And only really need protection from Hot wind and full midday sun..?

Hi to both of you alexandra and stephen. Thank you for this informative video. Since antarctica and australis have no chances if the crown dies isn"t it better to try a squarrosa in a mediterranian country? Is there any other tree fern specie that can be fast growing and produce offcets if the crown dies? And one more interesting question. Since tree ferns hybridise and ferns do it as well is it possible that a hybrid between fern(very cold and drought tolerant like polistichum neolobatum) and tree fern(cold hardy like antarctica, fibrosa or squarrosa) be made? It is hard for middle europe fern enthousiasts that we can"t have such beautiful plants like tree ferns in our gardens

I’ve cut a cyathea down and transplanted before and it actually lived. Do you think it won’t make it in the long run?

An inch or two in a decade?! Wow that is extremely slow!

TOP TIP...............WHEN PLANTING MIX IN OLD TEA-BAGS WITH EARTH!

I use tree fern mulch in the garden ... insects don't like it and so the birds don't scatter it!

I live in zone 8b and I have a tree fern but 23 degrees F is zone 9a not zone 8. I was wondering this because I have a baby Dicksonia Antarctica that I should plant very soon here in zone 8b. I’ve heard that by the time it gets down to 20f it will lose its fronds, and the trunk is hardy down to 15f. I even searched on google earth throughout Tasmania and New Zealand and I only found tree ferns in areas in zone 9a or warmer, often near the coasts. I live in a zone 8b csb warm summer mediteranian. Luckily this year we had a zone 9a winter only getting down to 22f and I put my tree fern right up against my House onto a window but this only happens once every 5 years or so. I live on the western side of Washington state BUT NOT NEAR THE COAST so can they grow in zone 8b?????

Wish i had watched this a week ago! I just cut all my old fronds off :-(((

Tree ferns Are Extremely Slow growing trees how slow are they?

Good luck moving a cyathea.

"Inch or two a decade" is not true. It's more like inch or two a year

😊99😊😊9😊😊😊oo😊99😊9😊😊?9