How to Overcome Frost Damage on a Giant Bird-of-Paradise

Monitor the soil moisture conditions around the frost-damaged giant bird-of-paradise. It's important to keep the soil evenly moist to keep the roots alive and healthy. Do not overwater, as cold, soggy soils leads to root rot and further dieback of the plant. Lightly moist soil the rest of the winter prevents further dehydration stress and allows the plant to begin growing again once warmth returns in spring.

Delay pruning the giant bird-of-paradise. Damage from the cold may not become fully seen or understood until days or weeks later. For the rest of winter when potential repeat frosts may still occur, keep dry, dead tissues on the plant as well as any partially green leaves. The green leaf tissues photosynthesize light and provide needed food for the plant to survive the winter. Don't prune until late winter or early spring after the last spring frost date in your region.

Trim off any rotting, sulfur-smelling tissues from the cold-damaged plant at any time. While arbitrarily cutting back the plant after frost damage isn't good, any leaves or stems that turn mushy or rotten need to be pruned away. The wet, rotting tissues will continue to spread down the leaf or stem and may be a breeding locale for fungal spores. Slimy, gooey, soft tissues should be removed, and the presence of a foul smell is a definite sign of decomposition or infection in the plant tissues. Use a hand or bypass pruner, machete or loppers to cut away the rotting tissue, making the cut below the area into crisp living or dry tissues.

Scatter slow-release granular fertilizer around the wide-spreading root zone of the giant bird-of-paradise in late winter, about two to four weeks before the expected last frost date. A well-balanced, general formula works well, such as 10-10-10. Scatter an amount prescribed by the product label 2 to 6 feet away from the plant base in all directions. This is where the roots are. With continued irrigation to keep the soil evenly moist, the nutrients begin to trickle into the soil and absorb into roots, and are transported to the various growing tips to ensure healthy replacement growth beginning in early spring.

Prune dead, ugly leaves from the giant bird-of-paradise once new leaf growth appears in early spring after frosts no longer occur. With the return of longer days and more warmth, the plant will reveal which trunks and growing tips are healthy and alive. Once you know a stem trunk is growing, trim away the most frost-damaged leaves by cutting them at their base as close to the trunk as possible. Removal of frost-damaged leaves, especially those that still have green tissues, occurs in increments across the spring and summer as new growth appears and visually replaces or hides the frost-damaged leaves.

Increase watering in the warming days of spring, keeping the soil evenly moist but never soggy. Growth of the plant increases and continues into the summer as long as the soil is moist and nutrients are available from fertilizer granules and any compost or organic mulch laid atop the soil. Ensure the soil is never bone dry, as that causes stress and may halt or slow the recovery.