botanists ??

[tbn.al]

This guy has the fern thing figured out. He's pretty accessible and might answer an email. I do not know him personally but I am a customer of his and love his gardens.

http://gibbsgardens.com/index.php" target="_blank

[Donn]

I am a botanist, for what it's worth. (What's it worth? Nothing, at all, believe me!) What little useful insight I might have is more based on experience with probably very different ferns (Polystichum sword ferns) in a very different climate.



Probably on the right track with tree cover. Some ferns will do fine out in the open once they're established, but at best they don't compete well with weeds and don't look the same. The same could be true to some extent if the tree cover gets too thin. No soil amendments would probably be best. A little leaf mulch might be harmless to the established ferns, but could suppress new ferns.

You're in a better position than anyone to know, from observation of local conditions where these ferns thrive.

By the way, if you'd also like to get moss established on newly installed surfaces, just throw a handful of moss and a cup of buttermilk in the blender, and paint the stuff where you want the moss to grow. Keeping it damp for a while for best results, of course.

[Donn]

The closest I have to experience with herbicides, was my father's occasional use of 2-4D to control Himalayan blackberries, which are a big local problem. The way I remember it, it was not very effective. Luckily, poison ivy isn't common around here.

Goats would rather eat poison ivy than ferns, from what I read.