BANANAS
(Musaceae)
Surely no exotic garden can be complete without a Musa or Ensete species. The very word 'banana' conjures up thoughts of tropical climes and the plants themselves, with their huge leaves, only enhance and reinforce this lush, jungly image. Amazingly enough a few species will actually flower and set fruit in Great Britain, giving the gardener a great sense of achievement (and not a little envy in one's friends). Bananas are divided into two main groups, Musas and Ensetes. Generally speaking (and until further tests have been carried out in British gardens to verify cold and frost tolerance) some Musas are relatively hardy with protection whereas Ensetes are not. Ensetes, however, make superb specimen plants for large containers or can be planted in the ground and removed later on.
CULTIVATION
Musa and Ensete species enjoy a rich, deep soil that does not dry out. They can readily be grown on clay soils if these are first enriched with plenty of humus in the form of well rotted horse manure or ordinary multi-purpose compost and if the drainage is improved by lashings of grit or sharp sand to the planting area. On hungry, sandy or light soils drainage is usually no problem but as bananas are gross feeders in terms of nutrients and water intake plenty of well rotted horse manure must be incorporated into the planting area for optimum results. Even then, it will be necessary to supplement this with annual dressings of a slow release fertiliser each spring such as blood, fish and bone or a 2" dressing of horse manure spread around the root area but not touching the stem(s).
Bananas grow well in full sun or part shade but care should be taken to position them in areas of the garden that do not receive the full brunt of incoming winds. In Britain, of course, this can be very tricky as our winds, although predominantly south-westerly, are very changeable at the best of times and even in our 'mild' summer months we can have winds from north, south or east occurring within the space of a few days or weeks as one weather front succeeds another. High winds do not spell death and disaster for bananas, they just mean that the leaves can be a little shredded and weather-beaten. This does little harm to the banana, but can play havoc with the nerves of the gardener as he sees his prize plant becoming more tattered and bedraggled as the weeks pass by. So, position your plant well in the first place.
OVER WINTERING
This only requires cutting off the leaves in autumn and placing a tube of fleece over the stem, stuffing with straw and covering the top with a plastic bag. Detailed instructions.
With much larger plants you may need to build a protective frame around your plant using wire mesh anchored by stakes or (as Will Giles does with a really well established clump of M. basjoo) build a mini-bunker of wooden pallets covering the whole height of the stem(s), packing the interior with straw, bracken or other insulating material and finally capping this with another pallet or water repellent material. Sounds a lot of work but the results the following year are well worth the labour.
If you have grown Ensete species in the open ground you will have to dig them up in the autumn, removing all of the growth above ground level. It seems drastic to do this but all the DNA, as they say, lies in the soil and this will regenerate next year when planted in the ground once again or in large containers. Keep this root ball dry in a greenhouse or outhouse and replant the following spring after all major frosts have passed. Of course, if you have grown your plants in pots you can either bring them indoors where they will continue to grow or you can place them in a frost-free environment keeping them fairly dry.
POT CULTURE
According to the Dutch you can grow anything in a pot. Within reason you can but it depends on the size of the pot and how much feeding you are prepared or can afford to give. Bananas are greedy, and not only that, they are extremely fast growing. If you can accommodate pots the size of dustbins, then you will grow prize bananas and even then they will cry out for feeding during the summer months. The basic rule of thumb here is, be prepared to pot on regularly during the growing season, and feed really well (at least once a week with anything: 'Miracle Gro', 'Phostrogen', tomato food, in fact anything you can lay your hands on). Your efforts will be amply rewarded with lush leaves and hopefully in some species even flowers and fruits!
