Post-Freeze Palm and Banana Care: Pruning Strategies for Recovery

Palms: Do Not Cut the Crown

Palms with brown emerging spears after a teen-temperature freeze: leave all fronds, even brown. The heart is the key. If the spear is brown, prognosis is poor, but wait.

Bananas: Cut Hard, They Regrow

Banana "trees" (pseudostems) can be cut at any level; new growth emerges from the cut center in days. Or cut to ground—pups rise from the corm. Water heavily; they need more moisture than palms.

Divergent Strategies

Palms = patience, no topping. Bananas = aggressive cutback, fast regrowth. Both need water.