Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Alpine Water Fern
Blechnum penna-marina
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Supplied in 400mm
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosGetting it in: this size needs about 900mm of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
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Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Alpine Water Fern - Blechnum penna-marina
This is a fern used as a carpet rather than a specimen. Blechnum penna-marina creeps by a thin surface rhizome and sends up small, stiff, ladder-like fronds only 15 to 25cm high, knitting into a dense mat that behaves more like a groundcover than a fern. It comes from alpine and sub-antarctic country, which is why it succeeds in cold Tasmanian and highland gardens where softer ferns burn off over winter.
Why Alpine Water Fern
Mat Forming Habit: A creeping rhizome fills gaps steadily, so a planting closes into continuous cover without any gap filling.
Coppery New Fronds: Fresh growth emerges bronze to reddish before darkening, giving a two tone effect through spring.
Genuine Cold Hardiness: It handles hard frost, snow and cold saturated soil that would kill most ornamental ferns.
Low Profile: At knee height and below, it never obstructs a view, a path edge or a step.
Sun Tolerance in Cool Climates: Unusually for a fern it accepts open positions in Tasmania, Victoria and the tablelands provided moisture is steady.
Ideal Applications
Shaded Lawn Substitute: A practical green carpet for cool shaded areas where turf thins out and fails.
Between Stepping Stones: Low and tough enough to knit around pavers and stone steps in a shaded courtyard.
Under Deciduous Trees: Copes with winter sun and summer shade beneath maples, birches and ornamental pears.
Rock Garden and Wall Bases: Threads through cool crevices and along the damp base of retaining walls.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 0.3 to 0.4m for full cover within two seasons
Spacing (feature/avenue): 0.5m where a looser, patchier drift is wanted
Best Planting Season: Autumn and early spring, so roots establish before summer heat
Soil & Drainage: Cool, acidic, humus rich soil that stays moist; it will not tolerate hot dry sandy ground
Establishment Care: Water regularly through the first two summers, as the shallow rhizome dries out faster than deeper rooted plants. Keep a fine leaf litter mulch between plants until they close over, and hand weed rather than hoe so the surface rhizomes are not cut.
Plant Details
Height: 0.15 to 0.25m, with fertile fronds to about 0.3m
Width: 0.4 to 0.6m per plant, spreading indefinitely by rhizome
Growth Rate: Moderate
Foliage: Evergreen
Light: Part shade in most districts; full sun is tolerated in cool climates with reliable moisture
Native to: Alpine and cool temperate south eastern Australia including Tasmania, New Zealand and southern South America
Flower Colour: None, spore bearing
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







