Question

White Bird   QUESTION: My white bird's main stem is about 10 ft tall before the stalks with leaves (which are torn up by the wind)start(total height is about 20 ft)Quite THIN & no longer attractive. In the 5 years of hurricanes, it has also turned a bit from it's east/west fan. It is centered in my front windows & is the focal point of my house.

Can I cut this center stem & have it grow back?
I do so hope so but if not, what else can I do?

It has many babies which are all turned in different directions that I plan on cutting away.
I do hope that you can help. Thank you so much.


ANSWER: Hi Karen,,ok, picture a huge potato under the ground, coming from this is all the stems; you can cut away as many as you want and those remaining will continue to grow. You really can't hurt your bird by cutting stalks down (at ground level)...so remove the ones that are not aesthetically pleasing and leave the ones you want to develop, again, as long as the underground corm is not injured, the crown will continue to send out growth. I hope this answers your question karen, if not please do not hesitate to get back to me.:)Nick

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White Bird   QUESTION: Hi Nick, Thank you sooooo much. I am beginning to understand my dear bird. Is there a way to trim them so that the stems will be wide & thick as a travelers palm or is that a totally different plant?

I'm tempted to cut the main (center) stem down in the hope that I'm making room for a new East/West & Centered stem. what would you advise? I so appreciate your input.  

Also, in trimming, when I cut a leaf stem, I cut the next leaf growing in that stem.

Answer
Hi again, no a travelers palm is a different strain, cutting the stem does eliminate that entire stem, but again, new growth is constantly coming from the corm, so dig down a little to see where the new growth is coming (cheat a little) and then you will have a better handle on where the pattern is developing. Nick