Ostrich fern
Matteuccia struthiopteris
The most architectural hardy fern available: perfectly symmetrical shuttlecocks of upright fronds well over a metre tall. It wants genuinely wet ground and it runs — an established colony spreads by underground stolons into a thicket, which is either the reason to plant it or the reason not to.
- Position
- Dappled shade or Partial shade or Full shade
- Water
- high demand
- Drainage
- Tolerates wet ground, Moisture-retentive
- Grows to
- 90–150 cm × 60–100 cm
- Hardiness
- H7
- Difficulty
- Some care needed
August
Nothing to do
No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.
Coming next month: plant.
Ostrich fern’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | March. | April. | September. | |||||||||
| Prune | February. | March. | ||||||||||
| Divide | April. |
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Dappled shade, Partial shade, Full shade
- Frost
- Very hardy
- Hardiness rating
- H7 (RHS)
- Grows best at
- 6–22 °C
- Soil
- Loam, Peat-free compost, Silt
- Soil pH
- 5–7
- Drainage
- Tolerates wet ground, Moisture-retentive
- Water needs
- high
- Drought
- poor tolerance
- Waterlogging
- good tolerance
- Heat
- poor tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ostrich fern — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ostrich fern — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ostrich fern — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ostrich fern — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Matteuccia struthiopteris — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ostrich fern — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
Fronds collapse and brown quickly in a dry spell.
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
A streamside plant; happy in ground that stays wet.
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Prefers this soil | Heavy clay suits Ostrich fern as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. It tolerates ground that stays wet, which most crops do not. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Sandy | Works, with one condition | Ostrich fern will crop on sandy, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Struggles here | Ostrich fern struggles on chalky and alkaline: The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5 to 7, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits Ostrich fern as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits Ostrich fern as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. Silt is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Peaty and acid | Prefers this soil | Peaty and acid suits Ostrich fern as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 5 to 7, and this soil is in that range. It tolerates ground that stays wet, which most crops do not. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Shallow over rock | Works, with one condition | Ostrich fern will crop on shallow over rock, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Grows well here | Ostrich fern grows perfectly well on made ground and urban soil without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 90–150 cm
- Mature spread
- 60–100 cm
- Rooting depth
- 35 cm
- Spacing
- 75–100 cm apart
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ostrich fern — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13
Habit and ultimate size
What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- In a container
- Not a realistic container plant
Where these figures come from
- FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Matteuccia struthiopteris — foliage
Checked 2026-08-13
- In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Open ground | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Traditional dug bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Raised bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | MarginalsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 |
Growing it
- PlantingPlant it beside a pond or in a bog border where the ground never dries out. On ordinary garden soil it produces short fronds and browns off by midsummer, which is not a fault of the plant — it is a wetland species being asked to live somewhere else.
- ProtectionIt spreads by underground stolons and forms a colony rather than a clump, sending up new shuttlecocks a foot or more from the parent. Excellent for filling a damp shady area and a nuisance in a small mixed border, so decide which you are doing before planting it.
Where this guidance comes from
- PlantingSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Matteuccia struthiopteris — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- ProtectionSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Matteuccia struthiopteris — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
Sources for this page
GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.