Question about Strelitzia nicolai

This gentleman wrote: I have a drainage issue and need to raise the grade of the ground next to my house right where my Giant BOP is planted. What are the chances of the plant living if I buried the bottom 18”of the trunk? The plant is 12’ tall with 5’ of clear trunk. I can try to move the plant, but it will difficult since I would have to cut the root ball down to a size where I could lift out and move it by myself. Not sure it would even survive a move. every one but me so far says it will kill it to raise the soil level 18 inches, Ed

Eighteen inches sounds like a lot.
However, these are really hard to move so maybe you just need to take the chance.

I suspect it will rot if you add that much soil around the trunk, but if he has no way to move it then there's nothing to lose by trying. If he has the means to get someone else to come in and transplant it for him though I'd recommend that as a first choice.

Thanks all, Ed

I agree. I had to move mine because of the hurricane. Here is how I did it.
I layed a large tarp near the tree. Once the bird was wrestled to the ground I edged it to the tarp and was able to scootch the tarp underneath it. after that it was easy to drag to it's new location. I'll admit, it was a struggle as it is fairly large, sounds similar in size. This is the new location..