Since we know that removing green, actively food producing fronds is not beneficial to the plants, gardeners are face with a bit of a dilemma with evergreen/ semi-deciduous ferns. I tend to selectively prune out browning fronds and never completely cut back the crown - especially if the planting is very prominent and still looks good at this time of year - and if the planting is not too large. This approach is not practical for large/ commercial/ heavily winter damage plants. Also to consider is the timing aspect. If I intend to cut back completely ( or especially if I plan to have someone else do it) I would do it before fiddleheads emerge. That reduces the risk of accidentally removing the new fronds and makes the job much quicker. You do end up with a short period of not pretty, but it is short and it very expedient labor-wise. I also apply a slow release granular fertilizer at the same time and it tends to make the plants flush out faster and more lush. This is normally the only time that I fertilize my ferns. Evergreen ferns behave a little differently in different places. My autumn ferns stayed green like yours when I gardened in Virginia, but here north of Seattle, they tend to be more tattered from weather by the time March rolls around- practically deciduous
Since we know that removing green, actively food producing fronds is not beneficial to the plants, gardeners are face with a bit of a dilemma with evergreen/ semi-deciduous ferns. I tend to selectively prune out browning fronds and never completely cut back the crown - especially if the planting is very prominent and still looks good at this time of year - and if the planting is not too large. This approach is not practical for large/ commercial/ heavily winter damage plants. Also to consider is the timing aspect. If I intend to cut back completely ( or especially if I plan to have someone else do it) I would do it before fiddleheads emerge. That reduces the risk of accidentally removing the new fronds and makes the job much quicker. You do end up with a short period of not pretty, but it is short and it very expedient labor-wise. I also apply a slow release granular fertilizer at the same time and it tends to make the plants flush out faster and more lush. This is normally the only time that I fertilize my ferns.
Evergreen ferns behave a little differently in different places. My autumn ferns stayed green like yours when I gardened in Virginia, but here north of Seattle, they tend to be more tattered from weather by the time March rolls around- practically deciduous