So, Bob, you leave old brown ferns until spring? Not being judgemental...lot of brown stuff in my yard, it's Winter.
On the north side of my house, My ferns fill the space in between 8" pakisandra and 36" mop head hydrangea, growing below my 12' rhododendron.
Are you saying you have a better spring fern outcome if you don't cut your ferns? Are they part of a tiered bed? What exposure? What are your companion plants? I kind of fell into what works for me, but I'm very interested and would live to know if I can do better
If you have Fully perennial hellebore, you are my hero- I get 3 years of blooms tops... then my heart breaks when I see one or two little leaves struggle through- and I know they're never going to bloom ):
