Cordyline

Another steal from Ebay a 6 foot (in pot) green cordyline bought for £1. The plant looks healthy but seems to hold onto the dead brown leaves - I pulled quite a few off which came off easily but quite a few were still attached reasonably firmly, I also noticed the ends where they attach to the tree were a bit wet and slimy - anything I should be concerned about - maybe it will dry out as the weather does? my garden is quite windy so I'm hoping the wind will blow off the remaining dead leaves and dry it out as neccessary...

 

Hi men8ifr, that sounds like a real bargain there. Well done!
Cordyline will hold the dead brown leaves, I would not pull them off just cut them off with scissors. If your garden is windy, put it in a fairly sheltered place as strong winds can snap the top off. As long as there is air circulation the slimy bits should not cause too much of a problem.

I have seen these with the leaves tied up to protect the centre from strong winds and rain, I am not sure how much good this actually does, it looks wierd too.

 

Cordylines shed their leaves as they get taller, developing a proper trunk and turn into a tree. Everything is wet and slimy at this time of year :(

 

Yes it's got a proper trunk quite thick as well, good tip with the scissors!

 

It doesn't really show how big it is and kind of dwarfs the spanish broom I have near it - the irony is I'm hoping that broom will grow big enough to screen off my neighbours house.

 

Looks good. And what a bargain at £1.00!

 

Wow what a bargain, As Blackthorn said just cut the dead leaves off with scissors, thats what i do with mine, are you leaving it in the pot? It will grow bigger in a border, if not I would repot it into a larger pot..

 

Probably aiming to plant it but need to decide where to put it first - also to sort out my borders!

 

The pot is worth more than a quid, well done you.:gnthb: As for the leaves, if you look closely you will see that they grow in sequence. If you pull them off in this sequence you will find they come off easily. Also yank down, not out.:thumb: ( I was going to say yank them down, but you know what Dee`s like.:rotfl::o:o )

 

Yep it looks like a bargain.

 

Oi David I heard that..:D

 

Well done Men8ifr that is a bargain indeed.

Last winter I tied up our cordylines as Blackthorn said as it was out first winter with them I didn't do it this year and they seem ok...fingers crossed.

I would agree with the guys that say plant it in the ground because otherwise you are left with a very tall, thin, frail looking trunk and to be honest they don't look really nice that way.

You really have to be sure where you site it in the ground because they do grow pretty big and what may seem ok in a border by a window or a door will become a nuisance after a few years or so. If you look around where you live you might well see the mistakes some people made by planting it and not realising the potential of the plant's growth.Hel.xxx.