I noticed a gorse bush growing in a tree fern while I was on a bush walk. It's very common to find tree and shrub seedlings sprouting in the fern 'bark' and even sending roots down the side to take root in soil. Those Dicksonias are very slow-growing so it might be an idea to part it from its passenger and grow the wattle on separately.

lets link your two posts together.. see link ... i am enjoying your thirst for knowledge ... that is why most of us are here in GW ... to share such you said: Like: Don't the vast majority of trees have but one stem? yes... it might be part of the definition of such ... stepping way back ... your are confusing trees with shrubs.. that is one reason there are two different forums.. because the words mean different things ... it only took me about 20 years to understand such ... that trees and shrubs are different.. not that words mean things... lol .. BTW.. you can do a lot better than wikipedia as a link ... its a good place to start to find new terms to search out and learn ... so just some thoughts to lead you on your quest for knowledge: not all WOODY plants are trees ... [there are even woody perennials] ... i like to put FLOWERING in front of the word shrub .... because in my mind ... for what that is worth.. most of the shrubs we notice, flower or berry [which requires a flower to make such] ... so when i think of shrubs i think of the common lilac ... forsythia .. olive... current .. etc ... they are grow in the same form ... and almost all sucker... to me ... its part of the definition of such ... and all will EVENTUALLY .. develop canes or trunks big enough for your project ... though it might take 5 to 10 years for such.. partly because they are wasting a lot of time and energy.. suckering their brains out .... soooo.. if you reduce suckering.. [good luck with that ... lol] ... the energy they produce can be forced into growing the product you wish ... hence all the suggestions about such ... now.. trees on the other hand.. do not sucker.. or multiply from their roots [leaving aside a discussion on some weed trees that might do such] ... you can repeatedly mow down a small tree... and make it LOOK like a shrub .... but it is budding above ground .. so it is not technically suckering ... again.. PROBABLY part of the definition of a tree... rather than a shrub ... and then.. on top of it all... conifers are trees... but not all trees are conifers .... which is then complicated by people calling such or both.. evergreen ... again we are back to common usage of non-technical words .... there are evergreen trees... evergreen shrubs.. evergreen perennials .. etc ... so when you call something an evergreen.... you cant get very far with a discussion ... see.. when it all boils down.. its all wrapped up in the words used ... COMMON descriptions... rather than technical or scientific ..... so when you really want to learn.. in depth.. you have to start.. by finding precise definitions .. in this case botany ... rather than wiki ... it is not uncommon for botanists to roll thru and start arguing about my way of trying to teach a newb ... so be it ... it helps us all learn ... but there comes some limit to how much botany.. my brain can hold... lol ... good luck with your cane project ... ken ps: when planting time comes.. ask for help first ... not after you plant it ... its pretty simple ... and dont waste money on soil amendments or fertilizers .... Here is a link that might be useful: link

You'll need to be patient with new trees. The first year sometimes is a recovery year and will grow stronger the second. If the second year is also weak then you'll have to look at options but until then, let the tree focus on growing roots...

Hi Don't confuse "Tree fern mounts with Long fibered Sphagnum moss The mounts are the trunks of tree ferns compressed and formed into various shapes usually for the purpose of growing epiphytes ,mostly orchids . I've used them for many years in the form of pots,sheets even in the shape of bunnies lol I grow 5 kinds of tree ferns but have had no luck getting orchids to grow on the living ferns .Interestingly they produce a fiber that repels epiphytes from attaching . Dead ,the orchid will happily grow right into it. They discourage the use of tree fern mounts because they have wiped out whole forests harvesting them for that purpose. If you want to mount orchids use cork bark works as well and is a renewable resource. though if growing indoors would think a poor choice ?? gary