When to Cut Back Ferns for a Healthier Plant Come Spring

Ferns are an ancient plant that have been gracing our earth with their feathery fronds for a long, long time. They make a great addition to landscaping since they can fill out thinly planted areas and they make for a great hanging plant or porch container plant. They’re generally low-maintenance, thriving best in consistently moist, well-draining soil. Because of their hardy and resilient nature, many ferns don’t necessarily require pruning, but it can be helpful to keep the plants looking their best and healthiest throughout the growing seasons. Here’s when and how to cut back ferns for the best results.

When to Cut Back Ferns

Tammy Sons, plant expert and founder of TN Nursery, says deciduous ferns should be cut back in late fall after the fronds have turned brown to make room for new growth in the spring. “Not only does cutting back ferns help prevent disease by removing the rotting foliage, it also cleans up the garden and promotes better, healthier fronds in the spring,” she says. “If the fronds are brown and withered, shredded, or lying on the ground, it’s a sign that it’s time to trim the ferns back. Cutting back a fern is sort of like hitting the reset button and creating the ideal conditions for a burst of new growth in the spring.”

Evergreen ferns, on the other hand, have a bit of a different timeline for pruning. These ferns shouldn’t be pruned in the fall, since they’ll stay remain green during winter and will provide color among the landscape as other plants die off. Evergreen ferns should instead be pruned in late winter or early spring, around late February to early March.

How to Prune Ferns the Right Way

Whether you’re working with deciduous or evergreen ferns, it’s important to prune thoughtfully to ensure you’re helping, not harming, your plant. For starters, Sons emphasizes the importance of using clean and sharp pruning shears or gardening scissors to minimize plant damage and prevent the spread of disease.

“Trim the fronds down to the crown, making sure not to damage the tightly furled fiddleheads inside,” Sons says. “By cutting the fronds back hard, the plant will put its energy into producing fresh new growth when the weather becomes warm and sunny.”