By Rebecca_c
United Kingdom 
My cordlike was too big for pot, so put it in the garden and covered it with fleece over winter. Wh n we re over fleece the base had rotted and the whole plant parted company with root. Was this due to damp or bugs eating stem?
17 Mar, 2017
Answers
Probably rotted through from fungal infection, but hard to be sure. The trouble with wrapping them in fleece for winter is, the fleece should be removed if the weather is mild, then replaced when it isn't, and if the fleece becomes wet, it should be removed till it stops raining, dried and replaced when it gets colder after the rain again.
Leave the roots in situ - you may find it shoots from those again.
17 Mar, 2017
Agree with Bamboo. It has just rotted with a fungal disease. People tend to buy them to put in a pot but they will eventually wind up wanting to be a large tree. I would say that the green variety would be the only hardy one in most of this country so I would not attempt to fleece them when planted in the garden. On the other hand, I would avoid the red and variegated varieties as they tend to be tender even when grown in pots.
18 Mar, 2017
Do you mean Cordyline?
17 Mar, 2017