By Lindae
United Kingdom 
i have a cordyline australis which appeared to have died after the hard winter. All the leaves have fallen off, however there are lots of green shoots at the bottom of the trunk. Should I cut down the trunk to just above the new growth or leave
20 May, 2011
Answers
You can either just cut it down to where the new growth is, or you can check the trunk from top to bottom - if you find only the tops are mushy or unhealthy, you can cut there, at an angle, leaving the rest of the trunk in situ - it may yet shoot from further up the trunk.
20 May, 2011
Hi Lindae
The man at my local nursery told me not to worry if I forgot to protect my new quite large cordylines! He said that if that happened just to cut it back and I would get multiple shoots!
He sold me one that had been a casualty in the past...and it's magnificent with two crowns.
If there are shoots it's not dead and I'm sure someone here will be able to advise you how to renovate it.
It'll be fine...
20 May, 2011