Banana Family Recommendations

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Alsone

Banana Family Recommendations

Post by Alsone »

Hi,

I've decided I'm going to put a Banana (or something that looks like Banana), in my back garden.

The requirements are:

1. It must be fully hardy in Yorkshire

2. It mustn't be dwarf ie 2 to 3 foot

3. It mustn't be huge - no 15M trees required

What I'm ideally looking for is something that is nice looking, fully hardy and will grow to around 6 foot or maybe a little more.

Also, what are the roots like on Bananas, do they pose a threat to walls, paving etc?
multim

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by multim »

Then is has to be Musa Basjoo. Root hardy, top growth may be protected to preserve height and subsequent flowering after a few years. If the Winter does kill the top growth, then it should make 3-5 feet of trunk in a year. As far as I'm aware, the roots don't present a problem. I'm sure that someone on this forum local to you will have one to spare as they are so easy to grow from offsets. Mine all re-grew after 2009/10 Winter low of minus 11.2c.
Alsone

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by Alsone »

Do they need to be protected during winter then?

Also, what happens if they become frost damaged? Are they like Cordylines where basically everything restarts from the roots or do you just lose the leaves and they come again from the stem?

Thanks.
Alsone

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by Alsone »

Also how do you protect the top growth of something with such a large spread?
ourarka

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by ourarka »

It depends how cold. A frost will kill the leaves but if not too cold, or with simple protection, you'll retain the stem and start from there the next year. Severe cold, with no prôtection, you'll lose much of the stem too but it'll restart from the roots.
multim

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by multim »

An air frost will blacken and kill the leaves - the stem will remain. Penetrating prolonged cold weather will kill the stem but re-growth from the base will occur in mid-Spring. A mulch over the roots will help protect them without looking unsightly as........protection. This usually takes the form of chicken wire placed around the trunk allowing room for straw to be stuffed between the trunk and wire. This is to protect the height as previously mentioned.
This past Winter has been quite mild so here are mine showing re-growth from trunks not damaged by cold.
Attachments
P1010389.JPG
P1010390.JPG
multim

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by multim »

Alsone wrote:Also how do you protect the top growth of something with such a large spread?
Simple answer - you can't. The leaves will die in Winter unless the plant is in a frost-free environment.
Alsone

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by Alsone »

OK thanks.

I'll maybe look into getting a Musa then.
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Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by Dave Brown »

The leaves survived -2.5C here with no problem last winter.... but the 75.9mph winds dessicated and snapped leaves :(

Two stem have remained in flower all winter. Pics taken 20th March
Attachments
2014-03-20 12-23-14 Musa bajoo clump.jpg
2014-03-20 12-23-36 Musa basjoo flowers pre tidy.jpg
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
multim

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by multim »

Dave, yours would still be looking good if not for those winds. Here where I am in an inland location, the first hard frosts usually come in November and I recorded -3.8c on the 20th of Nov last year. This killed the leaves but the trunks remain undamaged, as per usual.
I am told that Yorkshire can get pretty cold in Winter.
Alsone

Re: Banana Family Recommendations

Post by Alsone »

I'm thinking maybe about potting it now and moving it into the garage for winter.

Are they OK in pots around 55cm?
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