A tale of 2 transplants, part 2: tree fern (Cyathea spp.)

 A client had 2 tree ferns growing close together and wanted to remove one to get more light. Could it be saved from the compost pile? Experts from the San Francisco Botanical Gardens and Flora Grubb said probably. Dicksonia tree ferns are much easier to transplant - apparently you can cut the trunk into pieces and get new sprouts and roots on each piece. But Cyathea is a little more finicky. Here is what our experts told us to do:

• Remove the fronds. (We kept the fiddleheads, or unfurling fronds)
• Save as much of the rootball as you can. (This was tough: it was growing in a narrow planting bed next to another fern; we did our best).
• Transplant immediately. (Done)
• Pile wood chips a couple of feet high around the trunk, to encourage roots growing from the trunk. (This is something you could not do with a woody tree, but ferns are very different biologically).

Unfortunately, I was so involved in the process of getting this tree fern out of its tight spot, down a narrow hallway, and onto a truck, that I didn't take many pictures of the transplant itself. Fellow arborists Christopher Altman of Trees Company and Mikey Castello were invaluable. Mikey adopted the tree fern - it's in a pot in a sheltered courtyard -  and we have our fingers crossed for its survival. Hope to update you with good news in a year or so!