Bird-of-Paradise Plant

Question

I inherited a bird of paradise plant when I purchased my house. I believe it’s been here for decades because it’s very full, tight, wide and tall. Anyhow, the problem is it has like grass and possibly weeds in between the plant. How can I tackle the task of making it look healthy versus letting it continue to look like trash? How do you remove what’s growing in between the actual plant without hurting the plant itself? I would like to salvage this plant. Please give me advice.

Answer 1

If the plant were mine, I’d pull the grass and weeds. Even if you can’t get all the roots, hopefully you’ll be able to keep the leaves pulled off, and the grass and weeds will die from starvation. Then, I’d trim all the brown and yellowing leaves and old flower stalks. Next to go would be the badly tattered leaves. Don’t try to clean the entire plant at once if it’s too large of a job. Do it in stages so you don’t wear yourself out. The plant didn’t get this way overnight, so don’t try to correct it in one day.