Gardener972

How do you all think a banana would do next to the foundation on the west side of the house? There is a soaker hose about 6-8 inches from the foundation so it would get plenty of water.... or would it be too much? With the heat of the house, do you think I could get away with planting a more tender variety and have it survive the winter?

I'm thinking it would be great shade for the house so can you recommend a variety that would get about 9 feet tall (and survive the winter)?

Abnshrek

Dwarf Orinoco definitely fits that bill. :^) Fast out of the ground too.

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Gardener972

Great! Do you know of a good, reliable, honest source?

Gabe15

A plant would do fine there, but in order to determine the best variety, you need to consider what you really want out of it. 'Dwarf Orinoco' would work fine, but its very small plant (4-6ft) that makes small bunches of relatively mediocre fruit, but its very hardy so would probably be very vigorous in that location, but so would a tall 'Orinoco' which would be over 9ft, but provide more shade. If you want big bunches of better quality fruit, while still being hardy, I would recommend a 'Namwah', they are also very vigorous but the fruit is generally considered better than Orinoco, and the bunches are definitely bigger. They are generally taller than 9ft, there is a common dwarf form though which is smaller, but may be too small for you.

Are you wanting 9ft total, or 9ft of pseudostem? When you see the height of bananas listed, they are always (or at least should always be) in reference to the height of the pseudostem at flowering, so with the leaves they will take up more space than the listed height.

If its just shade you want without regard for fruit, then there is a whole different set of varieties that would do even better.

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pitangadiego

I don't think there is any danger to the foundation. There will be issues as the mat expands and new suckers develop between the parent and the house: issues with keeping them trimmed away from the house and from causing damage to stucco, siding, etc., that would otherwise result if they were to grow uncontrolled.

I don't think the heat from inside the house will be of help, but a western or southern exposure will probably get you more solar heating in winter. Although, the shade generated from the banana plants will mitigate the amount of heat storage in the surrounding space (house wall, sidewalks, etc.).

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Gardener972

From the ground up to the eves of the house (there is about a 2 ft. overhang), there is about 8 ft. so I wouldn't want a banana that gets any taller than that because I'd hate to have to have the top damaged due to growing taller than there is space nor would I want the maintenance of constantly have to top it out. Here in zone 7b/8a, I seriously doubt we'd have a chance of having fruit so it will be for foliage and shade for the house. Is there such a thing as beautiful foliage that survives this zone?

Abnshrek

I'd make the bed 4ft wide on side of the house and plant it 2ft away from the house.. you can plant other plants to fill 2ft closest to the house.. you might want to check out this :^) Plants that complement bananas...

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