Tree ferns always looks fantastic when you come across some fresh stock at the local garden centre (sadly they tend to decline under the steward ship of the same garden centre staff), however once you have had them in the garden their quality can quickly begin to suffer. One of the biggest issues is as the crown rises with year on year growth it can also become narrower and the growth considerably weaker. Over time this will create a stunted plant, miles away from the handsome specimen it once was and really, with the right management, should still be. So how do you stop the crown of tree ferns from shrinking or narrowing at the crown? English horticulturist takes a look at the problem and proposed a couple of ways of maintaining its original shape. Of course without the perfect growing conditions of its native habitat it will be extremely hard to maintain its original thick dense habit. However with good horticultural practice and a little trick up his sleeve, horticulturist Simon wil