I agree, this is nearly the worst time to do this work as I'm sure that in Florida, the new shoots are fragile and easily broken.

I am not sure what kind of ferns they are, but they are evergreen I don't remember seeing a brown leave ever. They send out runners everywhere.

The fence is six feet tall and runs north south and I am planting these ferns on the east side of the fence.
There will be morning sun there are some trees ten feet away but not a fully shaded spot. I can post a picture the ferns later.

Hmm, sounds favorable then if as vigorous as you say. You could possibly give us a photo if you'd like us to try to identify. I'd space as widely as you wish if they run easily. Use your judgement. Good luck.

Here are some pictures of the ferns.

I'm going to assume a tropical fern that is not normally cultivated as a houseplant (aka I don't know it). It looks vigorous and kinda leathery though...which augurs well for transplanting.

You may wish to place the photo in the 'Name this Plant' section.

These ferns are invasive in Florida. I have them popping up everywhere and spent so much time trying to get rid of them. They are in all my potted orchids and other potted plants.

If you want to grow them, just stick them in the ground. They are practically impossible to kill unless you use Round-Up or vinegar. Even then, their spores go everywhere.

I wouldn't worry about them at all. Just stick them where you won't mow and they will spread very fast.

Jane

Those look like MACHO Ferns- very easy to grow and will spread slowly. Keep them moist until they're established and feed once or twice each year and they'll do fine.

I love these as potted ferns in big pots all around under large oaks.

They do prefer filtered shade.

Also... don't cut off any leaves when transplanting. Can space them 12-18" inches apart or even more depending on the look you want. If these are macho ferns the

fronds/leaves can grow to 2-3 ft. long and plants get huge if fed and watered.

JaneNY, maybe you are thinking of sword fern. Those indeed are invasive in my yard (and, checking the UofF invasives site, they are the only fern listed).

My macho fern (pic), on the other hand, only spreads within shady mulch. They have even climbed up my shady creeping fig-covered wall - apparently I transplanted a very small bit there a few years ago.

Or... are these not machos? They are ruffly compared to Miami cuse's ferns.

My rabbits fern, now defunct... now there is a fern I could not successfully transplant.

Irma, My real Macho Ferns have fronds up to 4 ft. long. They do gently creep out

of the pots to the ground but they're not a problem.

I would guess yours in the pic might be some other type. The leaves seem shorter

but maybe because they're not in soil they don't get as long. On some sites, they

call the Machos - Giant Sword fern, but I don't think that's correct.

"don't cut off any leaves when transplanting"

ughhh...too late.

I removed the ferns from the grounds on Friday and by Sunday then didn't look so good. Many of the leaves are turning yellow. So I cut all of them at about 12"-14" from the base and planted them along the fence/sidewalk.

I don't know if these are Macho ferns. These are not 4' tall, I would say the tallest leaves were 3' high.

I hope they will survive the transplant.

They do look like Macho Fern, Nephrolepis biserrata. They're very easy to grow, to the point of being weedy. I have lots of it in various parts of the garden and am constantly pulling lots out.

It puts out fine wiry rhizomes which produce new plants often at quite a distance from the mother plant. Not being deep rooted they're easy to pullout. They can take dry periods however look very ratty as a result, but start to come back after rain (or watering). They also take a fair bit of direct sun when humidity is high, less of it when the weather is drier. They look better in bright semi shade, and very sparse and spindly if the shade is too deep.

I wouldn't worry about having cut the tops off, they're pretty resilient and should came back okay given plenty of water. It's pretty normal for the old leaves to yellow off with transplanting. If they're along a boundary fence then your neighbour will soon be sharing your ferns "bounty".