Banana plant

Hi all,
Advice please on when I should cut back my banana plant and how high from the soil?
Thanks Michael

 

Hi JWK,
Thanks for your advice,yes they are Cannas first time I've grown them so I should have asked the same for cutting those back as well.
We live in Swansea so do not get very hard frosts and where the plants are they are quite well protected.
Should I leave the Cannas same as the Banana plant?

 

That banana looks pretty thin stemmed to me, I dont think that would take much more than a couple of degrees of frost without being wiped out, I wonder if there is enough root there for it to come back should the main stem die.

I'd not cut it back but would consider some protection after the first frost has killed the foliage.

 

Thanks both for your advice

 

I'm assuming that the banana is M, basjoo.

 

Yes it is Pete.
I bought it about a year ago.Left it in its pot over winter,outside in a sheltered position.I then planted it where you see now early summer.

 

Last winter was a very mild one, lets hope we get similar this year.

 

Even in a frosty winter climate I find that bananas, cannas, dahlia etc survive far better in the soil, as long as it doesn't get waterlogged! So a pyramidal/ cone-shaped 'jacket' during the worst periods and a deep mulch seem to do the trick.

 

But you get roasting temperatures all summer, we don't and I totally agree with @JWK that cannas are best lifted and brought on in a greenhouse early.
In a cold spring you can be waiting until mid June before Cannas surface.

 

Our springs aren't that kind! But I take your point. Personally, I find it far more risky trying to keep the moisture-levels of rhizomes in pots just so....

 

I lift cannas and dahlias after the first frost, then store them dry in wood shavings. I restart them in March.
From what I remember, Swansea is comparable with my winter temperatures but you have higher rainfall. I'd chuck a load of straw around the basjoo as a mulch, this can then be moved off near Easter....that should keep it snug during the cooler months. When it's been in the ground for a couple of years, you'll get away without protection