What do you mean by a 'British fern'? There are dozens of species and hundreds of varieties of ferns which grow in Britain. Most, but not all, like shade and moist soil. The dryer the soil the less sun they like. Most, but not all, like a neutral to slightly acid woodland type soil. That is with lots of leaf mould in it. However, there are some which tolerate dryer conditions and more sun. There are also some which prefer an alkaline soil. If you could give me a name for your fern I could be more specific about growing conditions for you.
