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
Soft Tree Fern
Dicksonia antarctica
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.
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 photosHow tall it arrives: 400mm about 1.5 to 2.5m, 75L about 1.5 to 2.5m, 90L about 1.5 to 2.5m, 100L about 2.5 to 3.5m, 150L about 2.5 to 3.5m, 200L about 3 to 4.5m. Heights vary with species and season. How pot sizes work
Getting it in: the largest size here needs machine access rather than a doorway, and sometimes a lift over the roof. 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.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Soft Tree Fern - Dicksonia antarctica
A tree fern is bought for its trunk, because that is the part that took decades to make. Dicksonia antarctica adds only 30 to 50mm of trunk in a year, and carries a crown of arching fronds two to three metres long above it. It is the hardiest of the commonly grown Australian tree ferns, occurring naturally from the border ranges of Queensland down through Victoria to Tasmania, and it takes light frost once settled in.
Why Soft Tree Fern
Instant Structure: The trunk delivers height and presence immediately, in a way no shrub of the same age can.
Frond Span: A mature crown throws fronds 2 to 3m long, casting deep shade and creating a genuine fernery microclimate beneath.
Cold Hardiness: Established plants withstand light frost to around minus 5C, far more than tropical tree ferns will accept.
Fibrous Trunk: The trunk is a mass of aerial roots that absorbs water directly, which is why it must be watered as well as the soil.
Shade Requirement: It belongs in filtered or full shade with shelter from hot dry wind, not in open western sun.
Ideal Applications
Fernery and shaded courtyard: Grouped at varied trunk heights it creates a layered, cool green enclosure.
Under established canopy: It thrives beneath tall eucalypts and rainforest trees where little else will grow.
Poolside and screened garden rooms: The soft frond texture suits sheltered outdoor living areas away from direct sun.
Shaded banks and gullies: Ideal on steep, damp, south facing ground where moisture collects naturally.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 1.5 to 2m for a grouped fern grove
Spacing (feature/avenue): 2.5 to 3m
Best Planting Season: Autumn and spring, avoiding establishment in midsummer heat
Soil & Drainage: Moist, humus rich, acidic and free draining; never let the root plate dry out and never site it in a hot dry western position
Establishment Care: Water the trunk and crown, not just the ground, every day for the first fortnight and then two or three times weekly through the first two summers. A thick leaf litter mulch and shelter from wind keep the emerging fronds from browning at the tips.
Plant Details
Height: 3 to 5m over many years
Width: 3 to 4m frond spread
Growth Rate: Slow
Foliage: Evergreen
Light: Dappled to full shade, morning sun only
Native to: Eastern Australia, from south-east Queensland through to Tasmania
Flower Colour: None, a fern that reproduces from spores
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.







