joallen001

Looking to try out some banana trees for that tropical feel around my pool. I had a few windmill palms given to me but only a few made it through summer. Those palms are a job to remove and plant. This year I want to mix in some banana trees and maybe some elephant ears. I am open to any suggestions. I am in zone 7b hoping to find some trees I can get some height out of and even better if I do not have to dig them up each winter.
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joallen001

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Mark Anthony Phair

If the microclimate in your 7b area receives each winter the now somewhat regular "Polar Vortex," which is the sub freezing spells lasting several days and more, I would respectfully suggest that you grow any cultivar of banana your heart desires. Same with Elephant Ears and other large spectacular fast-growing tropical foliage plants.

Just treat them (the bananas) like the tender perennials and bulbs that must come up and out of the ground in fall. Just before you get your first killing frost in autumn, reduce (cut back) each banana plant to 1/3 of its original height, remove the corm from the ground and shake most soil off the roots. This will be no easy task as bananas have massive roots systems that are so strong, that even after a hurricane, the bananas are NEVER uprooted. Might break, but never up rooted!

You can even trim the long thread-like roots, then thoroughly dry them in the autumn sun during Indian summer.

While drying outside, cover them up at night and remove the cover (cotton, or woolen blankets work best) in the morning. Do not let them get wet. That starts the drying process all over again, and the goal of drying properly is to ensure that no mold or rot occur while dormant.

When thoroughly dry, move them to a dark and cool room (about 55-65 degree F.) and keep them bone dry throughout winter into late spring.

The reason for the size reduction when digging up, is so that when your bananas begin growing actively again as the spring weather heats up, you will already have considerable size to begin with, ensuring a taller banana by fall of that year.

Here, eventually, you may even get a few to flower, but you will have to sacrifice them come fall. Cold air produces bad banana fruit, and the ripening time is six months or more. Transplanting or digging up the corms for winter does create plant shock and the fruit will wither away while in winter storage.

Inspect your dormant banana corms throughout the winter, keep dry, look for mold or fungus, even an errant mushroom. If any of these are noticed, re-position the corms to receive some air flow to dry out some more.

The banana plants and the corms are highly drought resistant, so proper dry storage gives them more "zing" when starting to grow in (late) spring. Once planted and growing, the more water, the faster they grow. Water is a fertilizer to them. Do not let sit in stagnant water. Drainage and rich loamy soil mixtures with organic material and manures work very well, particularly should you make the holes for each corm rather large.

Musa Basjoo is considered fairly cold hardy, but they too might succumb to the deep ground freezing of the cold winds of the Polar Vortex.

One last important note: should your pool have chlorine in it, the fog that rises at night will contain the chorine. Plant too close to the chlorine smell or fog, and your plants may be significantly and irreparably harmed.

Good Luck!

Gone Bananas!
Mark Anthony Phair

joallen001

Thanks so much for the great response!

Akula

I have a couple pics of bananas around my pool which you can find in my gallery but unfortunately I was focusing on the patch so the perspective relative to the pool and patio area is not the best.

You have a huge amount of land and space around your pool so depending on your objective I would probably plant the patch two - three plants thick in the corner area of your pool. The patch would look pretty solid and easily visible from your patio and sunning area. Bananas do best in the area where they get the most sun hours. Mine are planted in the north part of my yard (with a bit of wind protection from fence and my neighbors house) and get southern sun exposure all day long year round.

Banana plants around a pool look fantastic! I get tons of compliments.

cincinnana

Your best option for your zone is Basjoo. The plant is a beast.
The plant can be ordered online and some big box stores sell them during the summer months especially in your area.
Expect to pay about 10.00 + a plant.
Some folks might sell them on the forums in the spring also.

In your area your plants will do well and they are very prolific when planted in well amended soil.

No need to remove from the ground for the winter, just add a layer of heavy mulch for winter protection.

The plant grows well with regular garden fertilizer such as triple 16 and loves water on a hot day.
Expect the plants to reach 15+ feet in height

Here is a link to some local plants

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joallen001

Those photos look amazing!

beam2050

what photos. all I get is something about 3rd party hosting.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5