Native ferns don't require any clean up or cut back to make them grow any differently. They will send up the same amount of fronds either way. The only difference is that without the old dead fronds, they might LOOK better and therefore lusher. However, the old dead fronds provide a means for the plant to trap and keep organic material close by for nourishment and a natural mulching effect (dead leaves get stuck in them as well as the decay of the fronds themselves).

Do you know, are these Christmas ferns?

Probably not Christmas ferns, but rather sword ferns.

Looks like sword ferns.
They are native ones commonly occuring here. There is also a perennial one that pops up with what I call fiddleheads in the spring and die back to the ground in winter.

Id like to cut back the ones growing under my porch some day since they stick out through the lattice with the stems inaccesible.

My ferns have been under plastic all winter and 1/2 of the pot is green and the other half looks dead (from the cold).. Should I repot them and cut off the roots from the dead part or leave them on and hopefully they will come back out?.

what is the proper way to remove dead leaves? I was told to scrape them off by one person and to cut them by another...???

If you have a new question, start a new thread.

can you cut from the bottom of a tree fern to make it smaller ?