Common polypody
Polypodium vulgare · Polypodiaceae
Leathery, ladder-like, evergreen fronds rise from creeping rhizomes that run over rocks, logs and mossy walls.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around common polypody
The planner designed this bed around common polypody when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why common polypody stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Common polypody × 7, dark green leaves
- 2 Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' × 24, blue
- 3 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 3, pink
- 4 Japanese meadowsweet × 3, pink
- 5 Bleeding heart × 1, white
- 6 Red lungwort × 3, red
- 7 Grecian windflower × 12, blue
- 8 Double snowdrop × 10, white
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 79% of the edge.
- 7 plants in 2 runs (4 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 10 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The back corners are held by turtlehead 'Hot Lips' and Japanese meadowsweet, the tallest plants on the plan. Early colour comes from bulbs planted between the other plants: Grecian windflower and double snowdrop.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where common polypody goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A fern that grows on things, not in beds: plant it on a mossy boulder, a stump or the top of a shady wall. It makes new fronds in late summer.
- Shady walls, rocks and stumps
- Evergreen winter fronds
- Dry shade
What to plant with common polypody
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Foamflower: adds the flowers, late April to late May; spires rising out of its mound.
- Wild ginger: bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
- Maidenhair spleenwort: low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about common polypody
Does common polypody need sun or shade?
Common polypody grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does common polypody grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should common polypody be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many common polypody plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used seven in two groups.
Is common polypody poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat common polypody?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does common polypody look like in winter?
Common polypody keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone. It is grown for evergreen winter fronds as well.
More Polypodium
- Rock polypody Polypodium virginianum
In these guides
- Plants for dry shade
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Fern (groundcover)
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Polypodiaceae
- Comes from
- Europe, Asia and Africa
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.