Holehird is a ten-acre fellside garden which was founded in 1969 and has no permanent staff, being run entirely by volunteers. The garden is open from dawn until dusk and visitors can purchase a variety of plants which are on sale and enjoy a drink on the premises. Holehird also holds six National Collections ….Astilbes, Daboecia (a type of heather), Mouse Ear miniature hostas, Meconopsis and Tanacetum (painted daisies). They also grow a large collection of ferns because on the whole, Cumbria has ideal weather conditions for successful fern growing.
The British Pteridological Society was formed in Kendal in 1891 and is still active in the area searching and cataloguing specimens of local ferns. The Victorians were keen fern growers and did a lot of hybridisation and collecting of ferns.
As a species, they thrive in a wide range of habitats, shady, dry, damp, and can tolerate acid or alkaline soils, and make a perfect foil for other plants. (There are 400 million year old fossils which depict ferns)
The Holehird fern collection was started in 1987 and has over 100 plants and 18 species including 26 different varieties.
The Holehird fern collection was started in 1987 and has over 100 plants and 18 species including 26 different varieties.
Mr Moss showed slides to illustrate his informative and often humorous presentation and explained how best to make a ‘loggery’ which provides a perfect growing area for ferns and he gave tips on the best methods of nurturing these plants.
He also showed how to propagate ferns by collecting spores from the nodules on the underside of fronds, and continuing a fairly lengthy process of sterilising soil, avoiding contamination from the air, and which hopefully results in tiny green fern growth many months later! An easier way to propagate is to split the rysomes (crowns) or to grow on by layering the tiny bulbuls which often form along the fronds of some ferns.
Written by Jude Jansen
