Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigrlebowski
Hello all,
This will be my first winter with 8 ice cream bananas that have turned into about 30 and was looking for some thoughts on the best way I should overwinter them with my current setup. I've researched this a ton and have considered everything from christmas lights, burying in straw, chopping them down to the ground, digging them up, wrapping in insulation etc. However, I would like to keep them in the ground since I don't really have anywhere to put them and I'm not a huge fan of the clean up involved going the straw or mulch route. I'm in Zone 8a Fort Worth area and I have a 20 amp electrical accessible in the pavilion. If you have any ideas or would like to share what worked and didn't work for you in the past, I'd love to hear them.
https://imgur.com/a/6jGjMIF
Also, the citrus, avocado, and pine apples will all be coming inside with grow lights, so no worries there. For the alocasia I plan on covering with piles of old banana leaves and the hibiscus gets cut to the ground for winter or so I'm told. 
Edit - imgur link used because my photos wouldn't post. |
From a landscape perspective I would switch the plants out to a cold hardy/tolerant plant like Basjoo or Orinoco. It appears the plants are for privacy and ambiance.
Basjoo/Orinoco require cutting to the ground each season in your zone....you won't need to mulch for protection like we do in colder zones.
Your existing river rock ground cover hinders mulching ideas.
If the plants are sited in a low wet area in the yard you might loose them anyway.
Or just cut them down and hope for the best.
I hope you find this useful.