There is a wonderful new addition to Horfield Common which will encourage more wildlife to take residence within it.  Some volunteers from the local community group, Friends of Horfield Common, have come together to create a beautiful fernery.

For those who don’t know, a fernery is a garden created especially for the display and cultivation of ferns.  Ferneries are usually found in shaded areas so as to provide a moist environment for the plants found within them.

The fernery at Horfield Common can be found just inside the bottom gate leading to the tennis courts, bowling green and cafe and anyone can visit.

As well as a vast array of ferns, there is a little pond there in which frogs have already taken residence; it is hoped that the pond will also attract newts and other wildlife in future.  The creators of the fernery also plan to make hedgehog shelters there, plus in other parts of Horfield Common at a later date.

Ferneries are not a new thing; in fact, in 1855, there was a fern craze in the UK known as “pteridomania” or “fern fever”.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to re-introduce such a fern-fever in the local area?  Imagine how much more wildlife it would encourage!