Dublin,
Ireland 
Hi, I have a cordyline tree or Banana tree as they are sometimes called. It died from the snow and cold in the winter of 09. I was told to cut it back a little and it would grow again. It did its best to grow in the summer of 2010 and got quite a few bunches of leaves which grew to about 12 lengths. However they all blew off in the winter and I am left with a bare tree. there has been no growth at all on it this year and I think I can consider it well and truly dead. All the same trees in my area have suffered the same fate. Is there anything I can do to revive this tree or will it have to be removed. It is fairly large, about 12 ft in height.
Can anybody offer any advice.
Thanking you
8 Aug, 2011
Answers
If there's been no new growth from the base, the whole thing is a goner, trunk and roots too, but check at the base for signs of life. You'll need to remove it, the whole thing, if there's nothing showing. Sounds like it was barely recovered from one winter before it got hit by the next severe bout of weather.
8 Aug, 2011
I've had exactly the same experience with two cordylines in tubs. When I finaly gave up a couple of weeks ago, I emptied them out of the tubs - only to find 3 or 4 mini-shoots peering out of each root ball (~3in below soil level)!
I've carefully cut the old stems, separated the shooting root bits, trimmed the root balls and potted the remaining shoots up. Good so far! Will need to be fully frost free for the winter, I guess, but 7 or 8 potential cordylines from 2 'dead' ones is a bargain.
9 Aug, 2011
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I,ve never heard of them being called a banana tree!!!
i,ve heard it called a cabage palm, but I think the name for it now is a hasbeen tree, it definitely sounds as if it,s dead, sorry, derekm
8 Aug, 2011