Hi, Heather.
Do you know what type of fern it is?
Did the fronds go from green to brown, or have they always been brown?

And you're sure this isn't the normal discarding of last season's fronds?

Josh

No, your new season Dicksonia antarctica croziers should definitely not be soft when you reach into the crown of the trunk and feel them. Healthy croziers waiting to emerge should be tightly coiled, quite hard to the touch, but also covered in a thick protective hair layer. It sounds like your winter lows were just too severe and prolonged for your tree fern and it's now turned to mush, almost certainly beyond recovery. If nothing shows by June or July it's too late, I'm afraid and you'll need a replacement. Some overwintering protection (as advised on the label when you bought it?) is pretty much mandatory for Scottish tree ferns.

Do you two know eachother?

For the life of me, I can't see any mention of a 'tree' fern....

Josh

'For the life of me, I can't see any mention of a tree fern...'

I hope you're not on Homicide, Josh - you'd make a very bad detective. All the clues are there. Heather tells us she has acquired an instant three-foot high trunked fern with huge fronds. Trust me, there are no other ferns that match that description on the UK gardening scene - it's the imported Tasmanian tree fern Dicksonia antarctica. And I can even tell you she will have paid around $150 for it, so it's no surprise she's depressed about its soggy condition after our recent abnormally severe winter.

I guess so.

I'm used to large ferns, and the "fronds in the trunk" didn't jump out at me.

Case closed.

Josh