[Milly]

Just moved house and at the back of the garden is a very large Palm type tree, not sure what it's called but it's as big as the house. On the pictures taken last summer it looked absolutely beautiful and it's obviously been here a long time. When we moved in (January), all the long leaves at the top were dead and are now falling down bit by bit, it looks in a sorry state and I assummed it was a normal winter appearance.

My neighbour has said he's never in all the years he's been here seen it look like that and he suggessted the exceptional cold weather this year has killed it. As the dead leaves are falling off it's leaving just the large 'trunks'. Will the tree come back?

[arugula]

Palms normally do pretty well in coastal parts of the UK particularly on the west coast due to the gulf stream, as far up as the north of Scotland - think Plockton. They tend not to cope well with bad frost, so your neighbour may be quite right that the weather has damaged or killed it, however I would think its worth waiting to see if any recovery is evident.

[Spana]

Milly, is it a cordyline like this one?  They can grow a lot bigger than my one here.



If yes, this one  sheds the leaves from the bottom up if you see what i mean leaving the trunk clean.  It seems to do it all year round.

[Milly]

Yes thats it in the picture. It has two trunks, one of which splits into about 5 at the top. All the leaves are brown and falling off and on two of the splits they now have no leaves on what so ever so they just look like mini bald trunks if that makes sense.

[JayG]

You might like to have a look at this recent thread:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=70643.msg805979#msg805979

I've tried twice with shop-bought cordylines but didn't manage to get either of them through their first winter! There are some more mature ones in gardens round about where I live but they are mostly looking a bit stricken. Hopefully the reports of regeneration are true!

[Rangerkris]

I managed to get a free potted cordyline about 5ft in height and i planted it next to one we already had the one we had has a weak root system i think its when ever there is a strong wind it blows over the potted one is doing great.  I pull off the dying leaves and keep doing so when ever they show sings of dying not sure what will happen when it get's to big.

Outside my shed door at the plot i put one either side and they did not do to well last winter but they did send out some new growth .

[Yorkie]

Most cordylines are looking very sorry for themselves after this winter.

On a recent local radio gardening phone-in, the expert said that they often did pull through despite looking dead.  If however it looks truly dead and the leaves don't regrow from the top, he suggested cutting the stem quite low down and it should regenerate into several branches from that point - worth a try as a last resort before getting the spade out.

[tosca100]

OH and I were only talking about this this morning. A lot of huge cordylines are doing the same this year. My Sis-in-law had this happen last year and it re-sprouted at the top, and it happened again and she can see green bits coming again. She is in Kent.

So I would give it a while yet to see if it will re-shoot at the top, before deciding it is dead.....that is if you want to keep it of course.

[Milly]

Many thanks, I'll watch and wait and see what happens. It is an impressive tree and I'd like it to survive.

[Rhiannon]

Probably sprout from the base , my bannanas suffered last year and again this and came back , we had loads of Cordelynes we cut down and they always sprout if the roots left in . We have a few Chusans and they werent affected, but all  cabbage palms ive seen round here have realy been hit .

If it does come back they do have wonderful smelling branches of small white flowers 

[Dilly Dom]

Yes it has been the bad prolonged cold spell of ice and snow that has killed off all the palms and New Zealand Flaxes around Lincolnshire.

We have lost four huge flaxes and our lovely palm in the front garden.  The frost obviously got into the crowns and has rotted them.  They now look a dreadful mess and are going to be a complete nightmare to remove.  Will have to start by cutting back all the leaves then start digging, not looking forward to it at all.

Will now have to look at filling in the large gaps that will be left with something more hardy.

Sue

[Rhiannon]

Oh yeah i forgot we have/had 3 x Formiums that we grew from seed over 15 years ago , all dead, plus Humilis Chamiopsis .....

[Aunt Sally]

Cordylines are fairly hardy but the cold weather this year has badly damaged one of mine     A lot of the still green straps are falling off leaving stumps of branches behind.  It will have to be cut down 

[Rhiannon]

I do think tho they will shoot from lower down  spose time wil tell...

[JayG]

As I write this I can see a neighbour is digging out the remains of what was an 8' cordyline from his front garden. There were 3 up and down my road visible from my front windows but that was the last of them. Very sad sight as they all must have been there for at least as long as I have been living here (11 years.)