Evergreen ferns - spring haircut

Pianoplayer

Hi - I am sure there was a thread on this last year but I foolishly can't find it (maybe @Dovefromabove provided the advice?)

I have several Polystichum and a Polypodium. All have survived well but are looking a bit sad. Would welcome advice:
Cut off all the existing fronds regardless of state?
How far down?
When?

Thanks!

Obelixx

No idea what mine is as was a cutting from a gardening friend but I just cut out any dead or dying stems back to the base in spring.

B3

I cut most of them off in mid spring. I only leave the ones that still look fresh. I wouldn't cut anything off until the new buds are looking 'hooky'. The old leaves protect the new buds from frost.

Dovefromabove

I remove all old fronds carefully in spring when the new ‘croziers’ begin to unfurl (or look ‘hooky’ as @B3 says). I say remove them carefully so I don’t damage the new growth. 😊 

Pianoplayer

Many thanks - I'll keep an eye out for the new fronds.

Palustris

According to the Fern expert who wrote the most recent book on ferns, one should remove old fronds 1 for 1 with new ones. So one new frond, one old one removed.

clarke.brunt

Obviously depends precisely what ferns we have. I reckon I've got Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas), and another similar one but with slightly more divided leaves (they come up as 'weeds' in the carnivorous plants). By this time of year, old fronds are half-brown, many broken, dangling in the pond - I've already cut them all off, in preparation for the new ones emerging. Much easier when you don't have to worry about accidentally cutting the new ones, and you couldn't really do '1 for 1' with this type of fern - new ones emerging pretty much all at once.

Mrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants

But how do you actually get rid of a fern?

O.K. 34 years ago we moved in. The fern was scrappy so I dug it up and moed it to a shadier position where it prospered. It's nothing special but I'm sick of the sight of it now and can see interesting possibilities for the bed.

Do I just attack it with shears, spade and mattock or has someone got any nifty, easier ways of getting it out of the ground? (other than bribing a family member to do it).

Butterfly66

Most ferns come out quite easily. They have quite shallow roots. We removed some very large ones by just levering them up with a garden fork. If I remember rightly we had to go round the edges a few times but they then began to break up