Staying on top of weeding is always hard especially when there is so many other things to do.
We were lucky enough to inherit some ferns from my mother in law this year but quite a few of them were nuked by the heat. I had planted most of them behind a shed ( I had no immediate plan for them) in mostly shade but that also meant that they were out of sight and I forgot to water them...
Ferns are nice but they are pretty invasive, having thick black roots that run everywhere...