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How to protect your banana plant over winter

Banana plant - Jonathan Buckley
Banana plant - Jonathan Buckley

The plants that will survive a winter in your garden will depend very much upon where you are in the country and how sheltered your garden is. For those who garden in urban environments or in the South, it may be perfectly plausible for tree ferns and Japanese bananas to make it through the winter with very little or no protection whatsoever. For those who garden where frosts and persistent cold temperatures are more of a factor, protecting these beautiful and often expensive plants is a must.

Ideally, you should start to protect them before the onset of winter weather, as there is a distinct slowing-down of growth at this time of year, which is a trigger to act and put that protection in place. The winter wet is also a killer when it comes to these plants. Growing them in containers when they are young is more practical than protecting the plants outside, as smaller specimens can be wheeled on a sack trolley into an unheated greenhouse from November to April. When the plants start to outgrow their containers, they’re often hardier and can cope with colder temperatures outside. It also gets to the stage when these plants get so awkward to move that there is very little choice but to plant them.

Tree-fern hardiness will increase with age. For larger specimens, it is advisable to get a length of horticultural fleece and wrap it around the top of the trunk in a figure-of-eight pattern to insulate the top 30cm where the foliage has emerged, paying particular attention to the crown at the centre of the top. Aim to keep the foliage intact as this will continue to feed and protect the tree fern through the winter. The majority of the lower part of the trunk is mostly for structure and is generally much less sensitive than the top section.

Japanese bananas will act like herbaceous perennials if they get a chill, meaning that they’ll regenerate from the base. The reason to protect larger specimens is to achieve a more impressive structure more quickly next summer. To protect your Japanese banana, cut the stems off at waist height and remove all of the top growth to the compost heap. Create a chicken-wire cage around the stems and then fill with straw or bracken to insulate the roots and remaining stems. Top the structure with a sheet of clear plastic to keep the worst of the rain off.

Both sets of protection can be removed when fresh growth emerges or from the beginning to the end of May, depending on where you garden and whatever the winter throws at us.