Pteridium aquilinum
Bracken, Brake, Pasture brake, Eagle brake
- Height × spread
- 1m × 1m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Flowers
- Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This is bracken, the coarse looking plant that nevertheless has a beauty all its own when seen growing en masse in the wild. Slender upright stems hold the big horizontally held fronds, rich green and rather regular, with outreaching side pinnae. It turns brown in winter and was once used as bedding, but is now considered to be carcinogenic. There are a number of named cultivars.
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Autumn foliage
- Brown
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Cube
- Height
- 1m
- Spread
- 1m
- Season of interest
- Winter
- Flowers in
- Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun, likes part shade, tolerates light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Ground cover
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early · Planting
Prune to the ground
Cut foliage to the ground before new growth starts.
Where stems are grown for their ornamental value, old stems should be removed either before new growth starts in spring, or during winter when they begin to look ragged or untidy.