"The Lady Gardener" wrote in message
I have a tree fern that is about 5 years old, poor thing has struggled for
all 5 years as I planted it in full sun, and the recent days of 42+ have
really convinced me that it was ill-sited!

Do these things have a big root system? Is there a right & wrong time to
move them? Or should I just adopt my usual method of move it which
involves
a shovel and crossed fingers, with the words of care "live or die".

They have virtually no root system. Move it quickly and put the hose
dripping in the crown of the plant and leave it to drip for a few days if
you can. I tied an old hessian bag round the trunk of one of mine tha was
suffering from the heat and made sure the hessian was wetted several time sa
day - it did it a lot of good while I continued the treatment but it
eventually died as I should have founda better spott for it.