Ferns for dry shade
The sentence 'ferns like damp shade' is repeated everywhere and is false of the ferns most worth planting under a hedge. Dry shade beneath an established tree or against an overhung north wall is the position gardeners struggle with most, and the hard shield fern, the male ferns and the wall-dwelling spleenwort are among the small number of genuinely good answers to it. Every plant on this list also happens to be evergreen or semi-evergreen, which is not a coincidence: leathery fronds are how a fern survives a dry summer in shade.
How this list was built
Generated from the catalogue by the same engine that powers What can I grow? — 6 of the 9 ferns qualify. It is published because it names a question people ask, returns enough plants to be useful, does not return most of the group it is about, and rests on fields that are actually populated. Lists that fail any of those are on the coverage page instead.
| Plant | Type | Light | Spacing | Min. pot depth | In a container |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden-scaled male fernDryopteris affinis | OrnamentalStraightforward | Full shade, Dappled shade, Partial shade | 80–100 cm | 40 cm | workable |
| Hard shield fernPolystichum aculeatum | OrnamentalStraightforward | Full shade, Dappled shade, Partial shade | 50–70 cm | 30 cm | well suited |
| Maidenhair spleenwortAsplenium trichomanes | OrnamentalStraightforward | Full shade, Dappled shade | 15–25 cm | 15 cm | well suited |
| Male fernDryopteris filix-mas | OrnamentalStraightforward | Full shade, Dappled shade, Partial shade | 60–90 cm | 35 cm | workable |
| Hart's tongue fernAsplenium scolopendrium | OrnamentalStraightforward | Full shade, Dappled shade | 35–50 cm | 25 cm | well suited |
| Soft shield fernPolystichum setiferum | OrnamentalStraightforward | Full shade, Dappled shade, Partial shade | 60–80 cm | 35 cm | workable |
This is one cut through ferns, which compares every one of them on foliage, size and container suitability — including the ones this list rules out, and why.