"Paul O." wrote in message
. com...
Hi folks. I have a rather large Boston Fern on my front porch in a 16"
pot,
and no room to put it in the ground. Also don't really have room to put it
in a bigger pot. This thing is growing like crazy and would like to know
if
there is a proper way to trim one of these back without damaging it?
Thanks
for your help.

Paul - take the whole plant out of the pot and put it on the ground on some
newspaper (so you don't make a mess). Next take a large sharp knife and just
cut the plant into quarters (half and then half again). Cut right through
the root ball. Put each piece in a new pot with some fresh potting soil and
water heavily. We do this in landscape all the time with ferns. We buy 3
gallon plants and cut them either in half or in quarters.