Overview of Putting to Bed Your Hardy Banana
It’s time to put the Hardy Banana (Musa basjoo) to bed for the winter. The following step-by-step directions are one way to ensure that your hardy banana stand comes through a cold winter like we have in New England. The trick is to give an insulating mound of mulch that is high enough and wide enough to keep the ground from freezing. Remember that you need to go up vertically as well as sideways or horizontally with the mulch to prevent the cold from penetrating into the center of the banana stand.
Five Quick Steps to Cover a Hardy Banana for the Winter
Step One
The first step to preparing your hardy banana for doramncy is cutting it back. Leave about 12 inches (or one foot) of banana stalk and remove the rest. The best tool to do this is a machete or something similar. Remove the stalks and leaves to be composted during this process.
Step Two
Get four to six wooden stakes and drive them into the ground three feet from the center of the banana stand. If your banana stand is on the larger size, you can expand this to four feet from the center of the stand. Additionally, if you live in a colder zone, you can make the enclosure wider and higher for more protection against the cold.
Step Three
Place cloth or wire netting on the inside of the stakes to create a perimeter around the banana stand. Staple the netting to the stakes to secure it for the winter.
Step Four
Time to mulch! Straw, hay, or leaves can be used as a mulch. Make sure to not use traditional wood chip mulch, as this is too dense and can cause rot due to moisture. Fill up the entire enclosure with your mulch of choice, or a mixture of all tree materials.
Step Five
After the mulch settles, continously add more mulch throughout the fall to maintain the three foot height on the enclosure.
