B urnt fern fronds

Started by Ron - 2065 Thursday, 17 January 2013

Hello, I have a large (10 feet) fern tree which I think is a Dicksonia Antartica and on one of the recent very hot days a lot of the fronds were burnt and some were partially burnt. Do I cut off the burnt fronds and the burnt portion of the partially burnt ones or do I leave them and let the plant handle them? Ron

Deirdre - The Compulsive Gardener Monday, 18 March 2013

This is a very late reply but I think you could safely cut them off now. I would have suggested leaving them on through summer in case there were any more very hot days so that the dead fronds would protect the ones underneath. By now, I don"t think there will be any more scorching days and some new growth can safely emerge. Deirdre

Ron - 2065 Monday, 18 March 2013

Thank you Deirdre, you are absolutely correct. I left them on and new growth started to appear almost immediately. I have now taken the burnt bits off and it looks like springtime again!!

Deirdre - The Compulsive Gardener Monday, 18 March 2013

Great! The rule seems to apply to frost-bitten leaves as well - leave on until the risk of frost has passed as though they look terrible, they protect the foliage underneath them.

Helen - 2250 Thursday, 12 January 2017

Recent hot days have scorched my tree ferns and I too will wait now to tidy up the brown fronds until the danger of more heatwave days has passed.

 

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