Cordiline

Aries

I have a Cordiline Australis that I planted as a feature, about 10 years ago.
Now its a monster, its trunk is about 6ft tall.
I want to remove it.
I was wondering if it is likely to grow up from the roots again?
Thank you.:)

Joly_Roger

Yes, it will likely reshoot!

The heart of the cordyline is the lower central trunk. It has a deep rhizomatous central tap root, and if cut down it will probably re-grow from the ground.

I would saw it down as low as possible and then use a mattock, or long handled axe to chop the stump out, any new growth would be quite fragile and easily chopped away. Not that I would ever kill a cordyline of my own as I think they are great plants. Architectural, flowers are wonderfully vanilla fragrant which attract the bees, and the birds love the seeds in the autumn.


Have you considered cutting it down to a small stump again? It will reshoot from below the cut trunk, much like how a Yucca does. So it would look like how it did many years ago.

Amazing how these are sold as bedding plants when they are actually trees. I see so many of them planted a few inches from houses!


Check out the size of these 3 mature cordylines I photographed recently with my children for scale: http://www.palmsociety.org.uk/_forumimages/849/IMG_2224.jpg


If you have no conscience, you could always sell it on Ebay. Someone will pay a lot of money for it and dig it up. It will take them quite a few hours and the transplanted cordyline will slowly die. There are plenty of cordylines for sale which the sellers expect people to pay for, dig up and transport away, unaware that the plant will die.


The problem is that unless the whole of the root is dug out it will die. Getting the central rhizomatous root out is very, very difficult as it is sent straight down a long distance and digging around this area is very difficult due to the fibrous root sytem which colonises the soil.

I've learnt from previous mistakes!

Aries

Thank you Jolly-Roger,
I think I will take your advice, I will get one of the lads to saw it down for me to a small stump, and allow it to grow into a smaller Tree.
I originally bought it as a small plant and grew it in a Tub.
But when it out grew the Tub, I could'nt part with it:rotfl:
So I think it deserves a second chance.