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What do you know about Bananas in UK?

imintauntonimintaunton Posts: 23
in Plants
In the far SW facing corner of our garden we were delighted to see when we arrived here, a banana growing happily.  It had two stems and the massive leaves were a great talking point for anyone who visited us.
Inevitably in the autumn the leaves began to get shredded by the winds and with the first frost it collapsed into a mushy heap.


I assumed that it was now dead and I've been mulling over what other plants to put in it's place - but lo and behold, three new shoots have appeared in the last few days.



It's amazing that those little shoots (which are no more than 15cms tall right now) will turn into massive stems and huge leaves within a few months - and will look wonderful.

But I know nothing about bananas (not trees, not bushes, not palms) so if any of you grow them, please let me know some tips and problems.

First off - apparently they're almost all tender plants - but ours are outdoors and are doing nicely.  But I've no idea which cultivar ours are - can you tell them apart by the leaves?

But over to you, please.
Thanks
Chris
Inherited an amazing garden in Taunton, Somerset, stuffed with wonderful plants, shrubs, trees and creatures

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Bananas are not trees, they are herbaceous but grown in tropical countries like trees. Yours has survived the winter as a root, and will send up new shoots. You can wrap the stem in Autumn with straw and fleece, or give it a good thick mulch to protect the root.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    A photo later on would help to identify, but the hardiest is believed to be Musa basjoo.
  • imintauntonimintaunton Posts: 23
    fidgetbones said:
    You can wrap the stem in Autumn with straw and fleece, or give it a good thick mulch to protect the root.
    Yep - that's my plan too.  Loads of nice healthy mulch - 'cos apparently (he writes having just looked it up) bananas need lots of food.  To put out that much growth definitely needs feeding well.

    And photos will definitely be forthcoming.  Only ones I have from last year were from a distance and aren't much use.
    Inherited an amazing garden in Taunton, Somerset, stuffed with wonderful plants, shrubs, trees and creatures
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @Hostafan1 knows a bit about bananas … I’ve given him a nudge … 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    As  @fidgetbones says, the hardiest are the M basjoo but even they need a certain amount of protection and this winter with wt/freeze/wet has been bad for many of the more "exotic" plants.
    Depends on the actual siting tho as Just a couple of houses up from me in coastal Somerset, the banana ( in a pot, south facing and against a house wall ) hasn't actually lost it's leaves so I imagine yours will pick up once the weather suits it.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I'd be fairly confident that it's musa basjoo. They are herbaceous but if you want to keep the height, you need to protect it in the winter. If you dont protect the trunk you will see it die off and then you have to hope it resprout,  as yours has done. The problem is that you won't get massive plants this year as they take a few years to really reach an impressive height but it might get 4-5ft this year if you are lucky.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I think hostafan is the bananaman🍌
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • imintauntonimintaunton Posts: 23
    thevictorian said:
    I'd be fairly confident that it's musa basjoo. They are herbaceous but if you want to keep the height, you need to protect it in the winter. If you dont protect the trunk you will see it die off and then you have to hope it resprout,  as yours has done. The problem is that you won't get massive plants this year as they take a few years to really reach an impressive height but it might get 4-5ft this year if you are lucky.
    You Sir, are a mine of useful information!
    Thank you!
    I had literally no idea of the life-cycle of a banana "tree" in Britain and having arrived here last June with loads and loads to do indoors, never mind about out in the garden, the poor banana simply had to fend for itself.
    I do however remember that last summer the banana reached perhaps 4 metres so on your say-so I'm now guessing that it may only reach half that this year.  However, I can pretty well guarantee that it reached that height without any form of protection in the 2021-2 winter because the previous people had become very infirm in their latter years and they did literally no gardening for several years.
    But I'm learning, thank you, and this autumn-winter it'll be well and truly protected.
    And I'll also keep an eye on it's height and quite possibly, post here about it.
    Thanks again,
    Chris

    Inherited an amazing garden in Taunton, Somerset, stuffed with wonderful plants, shrubs, trees and creatures
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    Hi Chris,  in mild winters like we had in 21-22 they could cope without any protection. I kept mine in a pot in a cool greenhouse and it stayed completely green. In London I've seen them just left and they didn't seem to mind at all. 
    This year I wrapped it up and put it in the shed where it still froze but kept it's stem and is now pushing out new leaves. By the end of summer you will probably have a small banana grove on your hands.
  • imintauntonimintaunton Posts: 23
    thevictorian said:
    By the end of summer you will probably have a small banana grove on your hands.
    I sincerely hope so!  They're pretty impressive for a typical British garden and everyone we knew who came round remarked on the huge leaves last summer.  While the stems might (apparently) not grow very tall this year, with what I've picked up from here I now know how to protect the stems, so next year (and onwards) my grove might well look quite impressive.  With any luck!

    Inherited an amazing garden in Taunton, Somerset, stuffed with wonderful plants, shrubs, trees and creatures
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