Removing a Yucca

Hi guys,

There's a large Yucca plant that's currently planted right next to our garden shed which I would quite like to remove (and perhaps plant a cutting in a large pot, rather than the ground), as it's sat right where OH & I would like to site a 2nd water-butt for an auto watering solution the OH is desperate to set up!!

Do you have any advice on the best way to do this, as I've been reading a lot of horror stories of spending 5 years getting rid of them! Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

If needed, I'll post up a pic of it when I get back from work tonight..

 

It's rather large - I'd say a good 7ft in height (with all the leaves etc) - it has 3 stumps, so its got quite wide too.. I've attached a photo for you

 

Looks more like a cordyline?

 

I have kind of assumed it to be a yucca - but I may well be wrong!!

 

Dont think its a yucca, I tend to think cordyline australis.
You could try cuttings, but I've never managed to get one to root, that's not to say its impossible, just not really worth bothering, they are cheap to buy.

Just cut it off at ground level, it will probably reshoot.
Just put some SBK stump killer on it, following the instructions.

 

I'm not too fussed if I can't get it into a pot - and if it's a cheap thing to buy again, then if I decide I miss it, I'll buy a potted version! I'm not too sure if I like it or not, but it's in the wrong place for us so it needs to go!

Thanks for the advice, I will start to tackle it tomorrow (4 day weekend for me!)

 

Instead of digging it out have you thought about stripping out the lower leaves instead. Youll end up with more light underneath so you can underplant,a cool trunk and spikey head. Might look well cool especially if you can stick a light underneath it too.......

 

Yeah, I started to strip the lower leaves out the other day (hence the bin bag in the photo! ) There were/are a lot of brown leaves at the moment, but the green ones are still quite low to the ground.. I could cut them all out, and just leave the crown at the very top and see what space I get from it..

I think I'll start by basically stripping as much leaf out as I can and see what it looks like.. it seems like the previous occupiers have tried to hide rubble/stones underneath it, so I think there will be a lot to clear out either way!

Ultimately the plan is to try and get a 2nd water-butt in the area to do some auto-watering setup, but the cordyline may perhaps shield/pretty up that a little - but all depends on space etc. I'll begin with trying to keep it (I'm not a fan of getting rid of any plant, unless unavoidable!) and try and make it work - but if not, I'll move to the removal plan..

I'll post pics of the journey so you can see how I get on!

 

So I've finally managed to get around to 'trimming' the rather large plant.. and it went from


To



As you can imagine there are a lot of leaves and 3 stalks to get rid of now! Any suggestions? Can they be composted? This is the damage:



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I'd like to start to get a wildlife bit going, I'm going to be creating a hedgehog habitat (going to dig an entrance and exits from my garden under the new fence), a small pond and planting for bees and butterflies.. not started it yet, as trying to get things tidied up to see what I'm working with!

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The leaves dont rot down very quickly.
I usually burn them when dry or put them in the garden bin.

 

If you go for the pond make sure you have a kind of beach.
I've had hedgehogs fall in mine, and my pond has no way out.

 

Ah, thanks for the tip - I'll make sure to have a range of 'escape' areas.. last thing I want is to have any problems like that! :(