Cordyline is too big for my garden

Q: I planted a cordyline in a small walled area about five years ago. It has grown to almost 4m (13ft 4in) and is now out of scale with the rest of the garden. If I cut it down to about 1m (3ft 3in) would the leaves grow again from the cut end? Or should I remove the whole plant and start again?


A: If you cut through the clean stem of a cordyline there is a slim chance that sideshoots might develop. The more likely outcome is that the stump would turn moribund. That would not kill the plant, however, since the roots are healthy and perfectly capable of producing a number of vigorous new shoots.
You have two options – cut the stem two-thirds of the way down, to see if any side shoots develop or cut it back to about 15cm (6in) above ground level, to encourage new basal growth.
Basal growth is likely to be dense and you may need to thin out some of the shoots. And if side-stems should happen to appear on a longer stump, these may also need thinning, but may also make a rather
lop-sided plant.