What can I do with large porch ferns before winter if I lack indoor space?

What's likely going on

These look like big, healthy Boston ferns often used as porch plants. In colder climates they’ll be killed by frost if left outside, but bringing all of them in isn’t always realistic – they’re big, messy, and heavy in those pots.

You really have three main options:

• Overwinter a smaller amount (a few divisions, or one parent plant) indoors.
• Give them away / donate them without the heavy pots.
• Treat them as annuals and compost them after frost.

What to do

1. Decide if you want to keep a piece
   If you’ve loved these ferns, keep just one plant or a few small divisions and let the rest go. One big fern can easily be split into 3–6 smaller plants.

2. Unpot to make them lighter
   The weight is mostly soil and pot. Slide each fern out, knock or wash off some soil, and either:

   • Wrap the root ball in a plastic bag, or
   • Pop it into a cheap, light plastic nursery pot. This makes them much easier to move or donate.

3. Divide if needed
   Use a serrated knife or hand saw to cut the root mass into wedges, each with healthy fronds. Pot each wedge up separately. Smaller plants are easier for nursing homes, neighbors, or local churches to handle.

4. Overwinter one indoors (optional)
   Keep one in bright, indirect light inside. Water when the top feels slightly dry, and trim brown fronds. A cool, bright room or enclosed porch works well.

5. Compost what’s left
   If you can’t find takers, it’s perfectly fine to let frost take them and then add the dead fronds to a compost pile or garden bed as organic matter.

How to prevent it

• Plan porch plant size with winter in mind: choose fewer, or smaller, ferns if indoor space is limited.
• Use lighter plastic pots or baskets so moving them is easier next year.
• Consider hardy evergreen shrubs in the ground for permanent green, and fewer tender pots.

When to worry

• There’s no plant health emergency here. The only “deadline” is the first hard frost.
• Aim to divide, donate, or move them before nighttime temperatures regularly drop near freezing, and enjoy them guilt‑free as seasonal plants if you decide not to overwinter them.