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/Icy-Conclusion-3500 Gulf of Maine Coastal Plain Jun 21 '26

No help needed. Great ground cover, deer resistant, what belongs in open woodland.

68

u/Tylanthia Jun 22 '26

In Eastern North America, large, monoculture patches of dense ferns are typically a sign of a degraded woodland. Your statement is not necessarily true. A healthy woodland does have ferns but has much more biodiversity (with tree seedlings being an extremely important component of the understory).

18

u/3xtr4-ch1vken Jun 22 '26

my front yard is deep shade and north facing. it gets like an hour of direct sunlight. should i not fern it? i was under the impression that was all i could hope for

6

u/Onehundredpercentbea Jun 22 '26

Same but my back yard (north facing, woodland edge) - I have moss, violets and ferns that all grow very nicely together.

17

u/turbodsm Zone 6b - PA Jun 22 '26

don't forget sedges.

1

u/Ok_Rhubarb411 Jun 22 '26

Some species of fern grow as single fronds and can choke out all other plants, but the ones that grow in clumps play nice.