Banana tree removal

I have finally dug up the last of the group of banana trees in my backyard. It was producing little or no fruit and was brown and diseased for the most part. Because it was occupying and shading valuable space in my small garden area it needed to be removed. I am at the point where I have a bunch of dirt and 3 large holes. These are my concerns:

1. Will back shoveling the dirt potentially cause the trees to re-sprout? Should I put different dirt in to refill the holes?

2. I got to the bottom of all trees but the roots that were previously attached to the bottom of the trees are still seen in the dirt. They are small roots, not the big ones that were connected on 4 sides of each tree. Do I need to dig deeper to get to all these roots or is the corm of the tree attached to the bottom of the tree with a hunk of dirt and roots?

This was a laborious task but it beat the idea of pouring kerosene or chemicals on the tree. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'd rather leaves the holes unfilled then digging the holes again in a week when I see new shoots growing up. Cheers.

I have a bunch of oak and pecan logs. Should I just throw them in the holes, build the wood 3 feet above the soil and back dig the banana tree soil on top of the logs? Will this is any way affect the banana tree from coming back?

From what I understand of banana plants, if you dig out the corm and any pups, it shouldn't grow back.

Andy, an area that I grew a thick stand of banana and canna in is now my BEST producing section of the yard. I am too far north to have fruit but I do have a variety (don't know the name) that survives the winter with out being dug up.

When I decided to convert the area to edibles I moved some and then simply mowed over anything else that sprouted. Now that the area is planted in edibles I just cut off any sprouts from the old bananas and cannas. That area has the richest soil of the entire yard now. My theory is that the decaying root matter of the bananas and cannas are what is enriching my otherwise sandy soil.

In other areas I have had to add LOTS of compost to achieve the same results.

My experience removing bananas last year was that they kept sprouting from the roots. After several months of removing sprouts and burying them in mulch only to find more new sprouts, I finally covered it with weed block and 6 inches of mulch. It still pushed up the weedblock for a while before finally giving up the ghost. The hibiscus nearby is now growing like crazy.

It's easy to remove the banana tree as the trunk is just soft.

If you get rid of bananas make sure to burn, or compost them. Banana ashes contain 40-50% potash!
Nothing else comes close. Next closest is ashes from citrus rinds (27%).

John, thanks for the citrus info! I'll start adding the citrus peels to my burn stuff.

Yeah. If you see any kids with a lemonade stand this summer, tell them you'll haul off all of their trash for 'only' a glass of lemonade.

Yes, banana plants are soft and easy to cut down. Copious amounts of water are released, too. But, I've never seen any plant resprout from its roots as vigorously as banana, except maybe grass or bamboo. Well, that's understandable because they are all monocots. Banana and bamboo are basically huge grass plants. They all have a lot of energy stored in the roots, and it takes a long time for them to give up the ghost. As I mentioned above, after my our bananas finally gave it up, the ghost took up residence in a nearby hibiscus and also a fig. Their roots must have tapped into the nutrients and energy left behind by the banana root network. They grew huge this year.

do not throw your wood/trash in the hole...it will have to rot to turn into soil,,,that will make that spot hard to plant intill the trash is reclaimed