Weathered Pink Cordyline

I'm a novice gardener and didn't realise that my Pink Cordyline would need protection from the winter elements. It's currently looking very sad indeed with lots of damaged leaves.
Any advice welcome. The crown seems to be healthy and is sprouting new leaves. Should I cut the dead leaves back now or wait until later in the spring/ summer?

 

Hi,
I have one of these, in a pot which I used to move inside (shed) in Winter for protection, but as it’s now so heavy I left it outside ( could have wrapped in in fleece but didn’t) and it’s come through fine.I have just taken off any dead leaves, and fed it.I regularly water it along with any other pots throughout Winter as they still need some moisture in long dry spells.
Yours does seem to have a lot of damaged leaves, so if it’s in an exposed position in the garden consider wrapping it next Winter?

 

Rather than cutting off the leaves, if you're likely to have more frosts, you could gather them up around the crown and tie them loosely around it for protection. Make sure they're dry, though. That's the classic way of protecting Cordylines. With added fleece around the base and/ or bubble wrap around the pot if it gets really cold.

 

Not likely to get any weather cold enough now, until next winter, to warrant protection, if it's come this far.
Think I would just leave it for now and cut the damaged leaves right back to the stem when growth restarts.

 

Thank you everyone for your advice. Yes, I'll definitely be protecting it next winter!

 

Just a tip, Sarahlou79....if you indicate your rough location in your profile, the advice will be more tailored to your situation

 

Do you know what sort of pink Cordyline it is? They appear to have variable hardiness. Charlie Boy appears to be more hardy than the pink passion / sensation variants, although it doesn't look like Charlie Boy from the picture.

 

Hi all,

I recently bought a Cordyline Charlie Boy from B&Q. I've planted it in the soil in my shady front garden.

It's 3m 15cms from the house. And it has at least 75cms of space all around it (it said on the label it can be 1.5m in diameter).

Should I put it in a big pot? Or leave it in the soil? I understand they can grow quite big.

 

Leave it in the ground but think about moving it out of the shade into a sunny location which they prefer. They really only cope in containers for a couple of years as they need good soil depth for their long tap root. A sheltered location will also help it establish well. It may need protection over winter as it has a hardiness rating of H3, down to - 6 degrees.

 

Here is the Cordyline Charlie Boy I've planted in my front garden. It's just over 3 meters away from the house. It's mostly shady (the bit of sun seen in the photos is the only direct sun it gets all day).

My questions are: is this plant far enough away from the house? Should it be in a pot? Will it end up growing too big and taking over the garden? It's still small and I can easily repot it. It's been there for about 6 weeks.

I like how it looks (hence I bought it) but I'm having visualisations of a huge pink tree in my front garden and I'm not sure about it now...

 

I think it's fine in that location @Cardiff Garden. The red ones are not as vigorous as the green ones and it should not outgrow that space. It looks as if it's getting some sun too which will encourage better colour. Definitely avoid putting it in a pot, they don't like the confinement after a couple of years. I like your second photo, in the spotlight!

 

I've heard some say Charlie boy isn't very hardy ,but never grown one so can't say myself.
It's very unlikely to be a problem to your house.

 

It has a hardiness rating of 3 which is down to minus 5 @Cardiff Garden so you'll need to provide some winter protection if your temperatures drop that low. I use horticultural fleece on a tree fern, only on days when the temperature drops below freezing and then remove it to prevent moisture building up in the crown.

 

I lost a 6ft Cordyline Sunrise, a similar variety due to a few -7cs so it won't like anything below -5c. They come back from the base usually.

 

Thank you - yes I saw the sun had caught it through the surrounding buildings and thought it was a good photo. It's a shady front garden most of the time.