Cordyline australis
 

Hi, I'm new and firstly wanted to say hello to all!

I have have (had) a large Cordyline Australis, it was about 20yrs old and 4-5metres high but was badly damaged by the severe frosts we had before last Christmas. It lost all it's leaves, and started going soft and rotten from the top downwards.

I cut it down to about 75 or 100mm from the ground about 3 weeks ago and just left it to see if any new shoots would appear. Much to my delight, in the last few days 5 new strong shoots have appeared!

The top of the remaining trunk was cut at a slight slope so water would not pool on the top of the stump, but should I put (paint) anything on the exposed top of the stump where it was cut to avoid any kind of rot?

Thank you.

I have had the same trouble with mine, but mine snuffed it all together.
The rot shouldn't spread to the new shoots though, as they tend to come from the roots more than the stem.

But you could trim the trunk back a bit more and maybe treat it with something like 'Arbrex' just for peace of mind.
And if you only allow one shoot to grow and remove all the others as this will send all the energy of the old plants extensive root system into one stem, thus making it grow twice as fast!

Congratulation on it growing back though, you must be one of the few people left in Britain who's cordyline has survived :-D

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. Nice to know that there is a way to seal the trunk.
It was a beautiful tree, and always full of flower in the summer. Will try some of that Arbrex seal and heal as soon as possible.

Thanks for the tip ance again.