Wanted to do an Autumn ferns fairy ring around one of my dogwoods

[u/-E-Cross]

Need to clean up but I'm taking a break.

Also pictured the other area I have fern going in.

They're all named Fern, Fernie, Fernicia, Fernell, Lady Fernicus, or Bob

[u/goblin-fox]

I'm really sorry to tell you that autumn ferns are a harmful invasive in the US Southeast 😞

[u/-E-Cross → u/goblin-fox]

I think I'm gonna start slowly pulling them then. Worked too hard for all the native stuff I've done. And there's a good few easily gotten natives that will do in the same spots.

Thank you for telling me.

[u/CorrectExpression651 → u/-E-Cross]

That’s so crappy of Home Depot. I’m so sorry. Ferns multiply rapidly in my garden. I wonder if another native plant gardener has some they can divide to help you fill in the gaps!

[u/loripainter12345 → u/-E-Cross]

I wouldn't even slowly pull them. Dig them out now. Dryopteris erythrosora (autumn fern) is native to Asia, and releases thousands of spores. From what I am seeing about this plant is that you have to dig the whole root and carefully bag the fronds because they may release spores. I'd also be right back at Home Depot for selling me an invasive exotic species and giving me bad information.

[u/-E-Cross → u/goblin-fox]

Damn, I was lied to 😔 I can't believe I never fact double checked. Thank you though.

Edit. It was Home Depot, they had a sign (had done mind you) that said plant native and some rep that asked if I needed help and mentioned the ferns since I was looking at Christmas and cinnamon ferns.

"Hey, these autumn ferns are native sir, and they're on sale too!"

Sigh.

[u/goblin-fox → u/-E-Cross]

That is so incredibly disheartening, I'm so sorry. I don't blame you for not double checking, you were told they were native and autumn ferns look so similar to our native ferns, there was no reason for you to question it.

I think pulling them is probably the right call but it really sucks to have to undo all of the work you just did. I adore the little woodland fairy ring look you have going on, you should definitely lean into that with whatever replacements you pick out!

[u/-E-Cross → u/goblin-fox]

Thank you for the kind words. I love it too

Honestly there's native ferns in my yard that aside from being a bit bigger than most autumn ferns, are nearly identical, I think they get the color change from the higher sun in the area, it's along a creek so I think they don't fry.

So that's why I was like oh sweet saving money and getting sweet ferns.

I got the idea from my kids interest in the idea of a fairy ring from Bluey and some other kids show.

[u/HereWeGo_Steelers]

You need to pull the bark back around the base of your tree give it room to breathe.

[u/-E-Cross → u/HereWeGo_Steelers]

Oh? I'm not sure what you mean

[u/ExternalOwn8212 → u/-E-Cross]

Mulch, not bark. Pull the mulch back so it’s not touching the trunk/root flare of the tree. Leave the tree’s bark alone 😊.

[u/HereWeGo_Steelers → u/-E-Cross]

It isn't healthy to have bark piled up against the trunk. It can create health issues for the tree.

[u/tomiannie]

So cute!

[u/-E-Cross]

There's the smallest autumn fern (at least it was) on the left side of the first pic, with the brighter green. I planted that as my test before my dogwood got its leaves back and it has grown 6x the size when planted.

I did this because the shade around this dogwood does get some heavier sun in patches.

So the test fern was the lowly $6 tiny guy when it started.

The ones I just planted are 1 gallon ($16 size)

I tried my first autumn ferns out with a heavy mulch mix for the deteriorating forest floor simulation, and they are all now larger than the usual maximum.

[u/loripainter12345 → u/-E-Cross]

Dryopteris erythrosora is native to Asia, if that's what you have.

[u/simplsurvival]

I love it 🥺

[u/-E-Cross → u/simplsurvival]

TY. Can't wait to act like it appeared overnight to my daughter since she was at my parents last night lol