Common polypody

This is an evergreen, hardy fern with attractive ladder-like, leathery foliage with distinctive pimply undersides, these are the spore-bearing organs. Plants grow about 30cm (1ft) high but spread slowly and can cover quite large areas unless restricted. Unusually for ferns, they thrive in dry conditions and can sometimes colonise old trees, as epiphytes. If left to spread, they make very attractive evergreen ground cover in dappled shade under trees, where the soil is often quite dry. Use them also in wild gardens, well-drained borders, on banks and walls, or in gravel gardens.