Tree Fern Dilemma

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I got myself a tree fern without knowing how wide it gets. I knew these ferns get tall (what I wanted), but I didn't know they get very wide (12 ft wide).

Was thinking about growing some shade plants in a weird part of my driveway (there's a narrow 2 ft wide strip of dirt). Apparently it was a bad choice.

It's an Australian Tree Fern (Cyathea cooperi)

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I must have gotten wrong information...

Apparently the diameter of the leaves are around 12 ft wide. But the trunk is much, much smaller in diameter (6 inches). Is this true?

[Junebug]

That's too bad. Don't you have anywhere else you can plant it?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I don't know. I have to look.

But first, I'd like to know how wide the trunk gets.

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I must have gotten wrong information...

Apparently the diameter of the leaves are around 12 ft wide. But the trunk is much, much smaller in diameter (6 inches). Is this true?

I'd say a 12 ft. leaf span with a trunk about 6-10" in diameter. Here's a photo of my 3 year old youngster taken in Sept. 2009. She's grown a bit more during the last 3 months but this is the most recent photo I have available this evening. She would probably be much taller, but last year she had to recover first from a transplant followed by a 6 week drought and then a 3 day tropical storm. She lost most of her fronds and looked sickly for several months but she's better now.

[Connie Star]

I've seen quite a few in the rainforests in Trinidad, Peru and Costa Rica, and my recollection is that the trunks do not get that wide. However, the leaves fan out rather low initially until they get taller. I'll have to see if I have some pictures. Also, I'm not sure what an Australian tree fern would do

[stonedragonfarms]

Here are a couple of pics from a few weeks ago in Auckland--they tend to grow up and out, think sort of like a royal palm--tall, relatively thin "stem" with a spreading crown. I am not sure as to their growth rate, but it seems that they take some time to get really tall...the final pic of the set is a youngster, the stem is about 4 feet tall, and the fronds about 8-10 feet or so...
Adam

[Baz in Oz]

Koog, C. cooperi can grow fronds up to 6' long in the right conditions and can gobble up a lot of space before the trunk gets some height and takes the fronds up where they belong (above head height).
They don't seem to mind a little creative pruning.
A few feet around the base will become a solid mat of fibrous roots in time.
Cyatheas dearly love regular light feeding with blood & bone fertilizer and orchids happily grow on the trunk.
Like all ferns, they don't like long dry spells.

Baz

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Thank you all for responding.

I really appreciate the information.

The tree fern gobbling up space in the driveway before getting tall will not be a problem for me. I want it to show it's presence! That strip of the driveway is always barren (and dirty) except for some rambling Cockle Shell Pea vines. I'm just sick of seeing dirt. And the dirt always tends to fly everywhere and get on my car (makes detailing it a chore and pretty worthless).

I was thinking about growing some smaller ferns and adding some Club Mosses (Selaginella spp., not true mosses but are actually relatives of ferns - Phylum Lycopodophyta) for ground cover in the shady to semi-shadey half of this narrow strip. What do you all think?