The 5 best places to plant ferns in your garden

Ferns are versatile, beautiful and can grow almost anywhere. Here's some places you could plant ferns to give your garden some extra colour and texture.

• A real enthusiast may use ferns alone in a shady border, mixing species of different sizes, shapes of frond, and shades of green.
• They also make a good foil for shade-loving flowering plants, which thrive in similar conditions.
• Bleeding hearts and astilbes blend well with the larger ferns, such as the shield ferns and osmundas.
• The spaces between the plants or at the front near the border can be filled in with low-growing perennials.

• Some of the best foliage plants to grow with ferns are the hostas, some with variegated leaves striped with green and white or yellow. Other types are plain green or blue-green.
• The pale green and white leaves of the goutweed contrast well with the darker green of the ferns. But watch out: the goutweed spreads rapidly and may prove too invasive.
• To look their best, ferns should be grown far enough apart to prevent the fronds from intermingling.

• Torenias and the wax begonias also make good edging plants in a fern garden.
• Tuberous begonias, hardy begonias and impatiens give a very pleasing effect when combined with ferns.
• Use daffodils with large ferns, which will cover the flowers' untidy leaves after they've finished blooming.
• When planted among a group of ferns, tall woodland lilies look very elegant, rising above the arching fronds.

• Ferns need not be restricted to a shady corner. Some, for example, the hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctiloba), which can be aggressive, grow well in nearly full sun.
• Ferns in full sun can be used to cast interesting shadows.
• Many ferns are evergreen and are invaluable for brightening up a garden in winter.
• The shield ferns and the polypodies are particularly delightful, especially when their fronds are edged with frost.
• In a rock garden the evergreen spleenworts (Asplenium) remain bright when most other plants have faded.

• Wild flowers, like wild geraniums and violets, add a touch of colour to the ferns' varying shades of green.
• Columbines and primroses come in a variety of colours and can be interspersed effectively.
• Some flowering shrubs, such as azaleas, add a mass of colour in springtime.

Ferns can transform a difficult corner, where few other plants will thrive, into an oasis of delicate foliage. Or they can cast interesting shadows throughout your yard. No matter where you use them, a well-placed fern can improve your garden's look and feel.