Yucca plant

This type of Yucca elephantipes is a variety often grown as a houseplant. This yucca lacks needle-like spines and can reach staggering heights of up to 30 feet. It is hardy in Zones 9-10.

How to Plant and Grow Yucca

These drought-tolerant plants are the rock stars of the full-sun garden.

Lynn McAlpine is a lifelong gardener and long-time editor of gardening and home articles. Her work encompasses both print publications and online sites. She has hands-on experience with annuals and perennial beds, vegetable gardens, herbs, houseplants, and woodland management. Lynn has a B.A. in Journalism, Magazine Production from the University of Memphis and is a member of ACES, the American Copy Editors Society.

These tough plants are rock stars in a full-sun garden and can stand up to some serious drought. Grown primarily for their showy evergreen foliage, some yuccas put on candelabra-like blossoms. Not only do these plants work well in a dry garden as an architectural accent, but they also make a prized container plant. But do be careful; if they are planted in anything other than well-drained soil, yuccas can develop root rot. Avoid planting them near walkways because of their thorny tips.

The foliage of the yucca is the main draw for growing these plants. The leaves come in a variety of colors, most often a silvery green. You can also find them in variegated varieties with gold, green, cream, blue, and even pink, in the right season. Some yuccas have thread-like filaments that curl off the edge of foliage for a unique addition to the evergreen leaves. The texture of the foliage can vary from thin, almost grass-like leaves to thick, wide leaves.

The flowers develop on extremely tall stalks in masses of white and cream and sometimes blush pink.

Yucca Overview

Genus Name	Yucca
Common Name	Yucca
Plant Type	Perennial
Light	Sun
Height	1 to 3 feet
Width	3 to 15 feet
Flower Color	Pink, White
Foliage Color	Blue/Green
Season Features	Colorful Fall Foliage, Fall Bloom, Summer Bloom, Winter Interest
Special Features	Attracts Birds, Fragrance, Good for Containers, Low Maintenance
Zones	10, 11, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Propagation	Division, Seed
Problem Solvers	Deer Resistant, Drought Tolerant

Where to Plant Yucca

Select a location in full or partial sun. The most important requirement is that the soil drains well. If it doesn’t, the plant will die. You can also plant yuccas in containers to be moved in and out according to the weather or as full-time houseplants.

Because of the plant’s thorny tips, yucca shouldn’t be planted where pets or people, especially kids, might come into inadvertent contact with the plant.

How and When to Plant Yucca

Plant yucca in early spring in a full-sun location. As long as the soil is well-draining, no amendments are needed. Dig a hole three times the width of the nursery container. Put on long sleeves and gloves if the yucca has thorny tips (safety glasses are a good idea, too), and take the plant out of the container. Rinse the potting soil off the roots. If you see any circling roots, cut them off before positioning the yucca in the hole at the same depth it was in the nursery container. Yucca plants are drought-tolerant, but for the first year after planting, water the plant regularly.

Yucca Care Tips

Because many species of yuccas are native to the most arid areas of the United States, these plants make great rugged garden companions.

Light

Their native growth in wide-open areas with little overhead competition means these plants perform best in the garden in full sun, which provides the most intense colorations of the variegated varieties and the most prolific flowers. While yuccas can survive in part sun, plants often become sparse, and the leaves are more narrow and leggy. Part sun also increases the likelihood of rot, as the soil is more likely to stay wet.

Soil and Water

Yuccas require well-drained soil, or they will quickly rot and die. When planting along with other perennials, avoid pairing yuccas with plants that need continuous water, as this is not an ideal environment for yuccas. While yuccas are tolerant of different soil conditions, including sand and clay, they must remain dry.

Fertilizer

Yuccas are slow growers that live in a relatively stark environment. Still, they benefit from fertilization a couple of times a year with a low-nitrogen fertilizer—either granular or liquid. For the amount to use, follow product label instructions.

Pruning

Yucca plants in the garden don’t usually need any pruning except to remove a damaged or diseased area.

Potting and Repotting

Yuccas make great container plants that thrive even if you neglect them. When potting them as houseplants, choose a container wtih drainage holes that is only slightly larger than the existing container. Fill it part of the way with a mixture of three parts peat moss and one part sand (or any well-draining planting medium). Take the yucca out of its nursery pot and loosen its roots with your fingers. Position it in the new container at the same depth it was in previously. Fill in the rest of the space with the potting mixture and water the plant. Place in a location with bright indirect light but at a safe distance from kids and pets.

Yucca grows well with crowded roots, but it is time to repot the plant when water runs through the soil quickly without moistening it, an indication of a plant with over-crowded roots.

Pests and Problems

Agave plant bugs pierce the leaves of yucca plants and suck out the juices. They are a half-inch long, so they are easy to see and identify. Treat them with several applications of insecticidal soap.

Yuccas are also vulnerable to the usual culprits: aphids, mealybugs, and scale, which are treated on yuccas just as they are on other garden plants, with sprays of water or neem oil (for scale).

How to Propagate

Propagate yucca by cutting off a section of a mature plant. Wait a few days for the cut to “heal,” strip off any leaves at the bottom, and plant it in a container filled with good-quality potting soil or a cactus and succulent mix. Keep it warm and water it occasionally. Rooting will start in three to four weeks.

If you prefer to skip the container step, the best way to propagate some outdoor yuccas is through division. Lift a small—but mature—plant out of the ground using a shovel. With your hands, separate sections of plant and roots until you have several new plants. Replant the parent and plant the divisions outside.

Types of Yucca

‘Bright Edge’ Yucca

Yucca filamentosa makes a substantial clump of rigid, spiny-tipped variegated leaves about 2½-feet long, edged with curly threads. The leaves are broadly banded with creamy yellow. Imposing 8-to-10-foot-tall spires of white flowers appear in mid to late summer. It is hardy in Zones 4-11.

‘Color Guard’ Yucca

Yucca flaccida has beautiful foliage streaked with bright gold down the center and looks stunning year-round. Stalks of white blooms as tall as 6 feet may appear in spring. It is hardy in Zones 4-10.

Spineless Yucca

This type of Yucca elephantipes is a variety often grown as a houseplant. This yucca lacks needle-like spines and can reach staggering heights of up to 30 feet. It is hardy in Zones 9-10.

Variegated Yucca

This variegated selection of Yucca aloifolia is a form of the southeastern U.S. native that can reach up to 7 feet tall. It is hardy in Zones 7-9.

Yucca Companion Plants

Coreopsis

One of the longest bloomers in the garden, coreopsis produces (usually) sunny yellow daisy-like flowers that attract butterflies. Depending on the variety, coreopsis also bears golden-yellow, pale yellow, pink, or bicolor flowers. It will bloom from early to midsummer or longer if it’s deadheaded.

Hens and Chicks

A favorite of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, hens and chicks are popular once again with gardeners looking for drought-tolerant, easy-care plants. Darlings of today’s xeriscape gardens, trough gardens, and rooftop gardens, these plants are appreciated for their easy care and tolerance for extremely dry conditions. The neat rosettes multiply freely by runners that form dense colonies. Flowering rosettes die after bloom time but are quickly replaced. They are excellent between pavers on patios and walkways.

Salvia

There are hundreds of different types of salvias, commonly called sage, but they all tend to share beautiful, tall flower spikes and attractive, often gray-green leaves. Countless sages (including the herb used in cooking) are available to decorate ornamental gardens, and new selections appear annually. They are valued for their very long bloom season, right up until frost. Not all are hardy in cold climates, but they are easy to grow as annuals. On square stems, clothed with often-aromatic leaves, sages carry dense or loose spires of tubular flowers in bright blues, violets, yellow, pinks, and red that mix well with other perennials in beds and borders. Provide full sun or very light shade in well-drained average soil.

Frequently Asked Questions

When grown indoors as houseplants, yuccas live about five years. Outdoors, some yuccas live as long as 50 years.

Many yuccas have hard, sharp spines that can puncture a person’s skin (or a pet’s) and penetrate deeply. The spines aren’t poisonous, but the wound is likely to swell and be uncomfortable for a week or so. It is unwise to place yucca varieties with this trait in an area with children and pets. Not all yuccas have sharp tips on their leaves. Spineless yucca plants (Yucca elephantipes) are particularly popular as houseplants for this reason.

Yucca

Yucca adds dramatic architectural effect to borders and courtyards with their bold sword-shaped leaves and panicles of bell-shaped flowers. Tender species make good house or conservatory plants.

Quick facts

Common name Yucca, Spanish bayonet, spineless yucca, Adam’s needle and thread, Spanish dagger
Botanical name Yucca aloifolia, Y. elephantipes, Y. filamentosa, Y gloriosa
Group Shrub or tree
Flowering time Summer (sparsely)
Planting time Spring
Height and spread 55cm-10m (22in-33ft) by 1.5-8m (5-26ft)
Aspect Outdoors: full sun to light shade. Indoors: bright, filtered light
Hardiness Frost hardy to frost tender
Difficulty Moderate

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Cultivation notes

Rosettes are the circular arrangement of flower petals; or a cluster of leaves radiating from approximately the same point usually around a stem. Examples include aeonium and most succulent plants, African violets, primula, sempervivums.

rosettes of stiff, sword-shaped leaves and tall panicles of bell-shaped flowers. Larger forms gradually loose the lower leaves to expose a trunk. In frost-prone areas tender yucca species can be grown in a cool greenhouse or conservatory.

Outdoor planting

Hardier yucca like Yucca gloriosa and Y. filamentosa require full sun and any well drained soil.

Container cultivation

Add 20-30 percent by volume of extra grit to John Innes No 2 for good drainage. Place in full light, water freely during the

The period of time when an individual plant is in active growth. This will depend on the local climate and light levels, and can vary between different plants, although it is broadly from spring to autumn.

growing season from April to September and apply a balanced liquid feed fortnightly. During winter don’t feed and water sparingly allowing the surface 5cm of

Can refer to either home-made garden compost or seed/potting compost: • Garden compost is a soil improver made from decomposed plant waste, usually in a compost bin or heap. It is added to soil to improve its fertility, structure and water-holding capacity. Seed or potting composts are used for growing seedlings or plants in containers – a wide range of commercially produced peat-free composts are available, made from a mix of various ingredients, such as loam, composted bark, coir and sand, although you can mix your own.

Indoor cultivation

Yucca requires a sunny position all year, well drained compost and careful watering. A south-facing window would be ideal in winter with an east or west-facing window in summer. Provide light shade from direct summer sun and ventilate freely to encourage air flow to reduce excessive high temperatures. Tender species like Y. elephantipes may be placed outside from the end of May to August in a sheltered spot provided the plant is stable in wind.

Winter protection

Over-winter all tender yucca indoors. During winter when not in active growth, Y. elephantipes can tolerate a minimum night temperature of 7°C (45°F) with a day temperature a few degrees higher so can be grown in a cool conservatory.

Flowering

Panicles of bell-shaped cream coloured flowers form in late summer to autumn but may need

Transferring pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another, using a small paint brush or similar. It may be done for various reasons, including by plant breeders to ensure pollination by a specific plant, and by gardeners to improve pollination rates when there are few natural pollinators around, for example in a greenhouse or during poor weather at blossom time.