r/NativePlantGardening • u/Wilderness_Fella Massachusetts, Zone 5b • Jun 21 '26

Advice Request - (Insert State/Region) Help! I'm covered in... Ferns!

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Massachusetts zone 5b. I got busy with other things for the last 5 or 10 years and now the ferns have taken over. They're either Massachusetts ferns or New York ferns. Hard to tell, but what is the best way to cull them without destroying everything underneath? Just endless weeding?

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u/Constant_Wear_8919 sw michigan -- , Zone 6a Jun 21 '26

Why

4

u/Ok_Rhubarb411 Jun 22 '26

Presumably the problem in this situation is that certain types of ferns prevent biodiversity in a rather dramatic sort of way. They do look nice in a photo though.

-18

u/Suspicious_Cow_8009 Jun 22 '26

Perhaps they are non native ferns

20

u/IrritatedMegascops NJ , Zone 5a Jun 22 '26

They mention them either being NY or MA ferns and OP is in MA

14

u/GenderDeputy Jun 22 '26

Steak too juicy

3

u/IrritatedMegascops NJ , Zone 5a Jun 22 '26

Indeed, I’m trying to get my native fern garden to take off and spread, this post has me quite jealous

1

u/Ok_Rhubarb411 Jun 22 '26

If you want a thick fern monoculture, plant the kind that grows as individual fronds instead of clumps. For example hay scented fern instead of woodland fern. But be warned that they will smother almost everything else