Transplanting Native Yucca

[Jcalvin]

Does anyone have any experience transplanting Yucca? 

We have a native yucca that grows here. I’ve seen it as y’all as 12 feet. In the early summer it has a huge stalk with beautiful white flowers. It grows all along the highway, and anywhere you see a sand hill. 

I’ve tried transplanting it one time before, about 12 years ago, but I over- watered it after I transplanted it. 

 

These were in the woods along the side of a dirt road on my way to the landfill.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Jcalvin

[Silas_Sancona]

If you're moving an entact clump, w/ roots and all, should be pretty easy. ( digging it up might not be so easy though )  Have seen large sized specimen type plants moved / relocated during salvage projects w/ out much issue here. Cuttings, on the other hand can be a bit tougher, at least on some sp.  Y. elephantes, an over planted " horticultural atrocity "  back in California, are easy.. root w/ out issue, even if placed in a cup of water.   

Would definitely place plants in soil that will drain better / watch the water until it gets established. Might dust cuttings or pups lacking roots w/ sulfur or rooting hormone and stick them in something like pure Pumice that will drain off excess water until rooted. 

[Jcalvin]

6 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

If you're moving an entact clump, w/ roots and all, should be pretty easy. ( digging it up might not be so easy though )  Have seen large sized specimen type plants moved / relocated during salvage projects w/ out much issue here. Cuttings, on the other hand can be a bit tougher, at least on some sp.  Y. elephantes, an over planted " horticultural atrocity "  back in California, are easy.. root w/ out issue, even if placed in a cup of water.   

Would definitely place plants in soil that will drain better / watch the water until it gets established. Might dust cuttings or pups lacking roots w/ sulfur or rooting hormone and stick them in something like pure Pumice that will drain off excess water until rooted. 

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. These things are extremely sharp. I’ve handled yuccas before, but never any this dangerous. 

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Jcalvin said:

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. These things are extremely sharp. I’ve handled yuccas before, but never any this dangerous. 

Oh I know what you mean, lol. Plenty of the hard-leaved/ tipped sp. around here as well.. Trimming larger rosata, rigida, or elephantes specimens w/ out gloves is almost as bad as dealing with an angry cat..  Elephantes itself has those tiny, saw-like teeth along the leaf margins that are bad enough.  Still not as bad as cleaning up some Agave though. 

In your situation, you could either trim off some of the lower leaves, to have better access to the plant itself, or.. use something like Sasal Twine, and maybe some burlap sacks and tie up the leaves while you uproot / relocate the clump. Trimming any lower leaves, as long as you leave a little attached, won't hurt these things at all.  

[Chester B]

Never had an issue moving Yuccas.  Sometimes its hard to get all of that big fat root but it doesn't seem to matter.  If you leave any piece of the root behind a new plant will soon appear.

[Jcalvin]

After researching a bit, this one is a Filamentosa, or Adam’s Needle. The other native yucca I was talking about that gets taller, the one I mostly see in people’s yard, is a Yucca Aloifolia, or Spanish Bayonet. The Filamentosa gets tall as well, but I haven’t seen any. 

Edited October 5, 2019 by Jcalvin

[Bill H2DB]

   I have planted Spanish Bayonet , simply by digging a slender hole with post hole diggers , and dropping a stem in.

They are easy to cut at ground level , and really don't need roots to survive the transplant , in my experience .

   Makes a great security fence .

[redbeard917]

Aloifolia can fall over and root and create new plants very easily. I'm not sure about filamentosa. I like them but am hesitant in general to transplant plants that have a single deep root because I've had bad luck in the past with plants like longleaf pine seedlings and Asclepias humistrata, however yuccas are probably easier and I hope you are successful. However, I have taken the black seeds out of the pods and sprouted them and have 3 adults now on my property that flower each year.

[Fusca]

Agree.  I've rooted stem cuttings of Y. aloiolia and other yucca species in clay soil many times without failure just as @Bill H2DB described not adding much moisture.  Much easier than digging and much faster than growing from seed which I've also done!  I assumed all "trunking" yucca species transplant this easily but that might not be the case.  I was going to try this with Y. rostrata next.  That Y. filamentosa looks a lot like our native Hesperaloe parviflora with those cottony "Washingtonia-like" fibers, but I'd guess that digging would be the best bet for transplanting this one.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, Fusca said:

Agree.  I've rooted stem cuttings of Y. aloiolia and other yucca species in clay soil many times without failure just as @Bill H2DB described not adding much moisture.  Much easier than digging and much faster than growing from seed which I've also done!  I assumed all "trunking" yucca species transplant this easily but that might not be the case.  I was going to try this with Y. rostrata next.  That Y. filamentosa looks a lot like our native Hesperaloe parviflora with those cottony "Washingtonia-like" fibers, but I'd guess that digging would be the best bet for transplanting this one.

Y aloiolia and elephantes ( .. or guatemalensis/ gigantea  ...or whatever it's being called, lol ) seem to be the two Yucca most people are familiar with when it comes to ease of rooting cuttings.. other acaulescent ( rosette forming sp. ) like filamentosa are probably just as easy.  Not so sure about others like Y. baccata, nana ( harrimaniae), pallida, glauca, or super rare endlichiana. Have all but nana but not about to try division / cuttings on any of them for at least another 2 years. 

Caulescent ( trunk forming ) species like elephantes/ guatemal. are easy..  Filifera I have might be easy also. Mine is pushing up new growth away from the older growth atm but also leaving it alone for now.  Not sure if I have ever heard of anyone rooting cuttings off Y. bervifolia ( Joshua Tree ), Y. b.  jaegeriana,  faxoniana, rigida or some others. My initial, yet to test thought is rooting large branches off such sp.  would be alot like rooting similar- sized cuts off some of the Tree Aloe ( X " Medusa, " Hurcules", etc. ). Fairly straight forward if not over watered, kept out of direct sun while iniating new roots..  regardless, as mentioned earlier, have seen large specimens of most of those Yucca sp. relocated successfully w/ out issue if done caerfully. 

If I were moving established clumps of any of the rosette forming sp. ( or smaller trunking types.. ) would definitely invest in a good quality, flat- bladed cap rock shovel. Nothing slices through tough roots better. Not sure why  but this particular type of shovel is hard to find out here. Ordering mine online. Not cheap but well worth the cost for tough to uproot plants/ cutting through tree roots.. 

 

[Jcalvin]

Went fishing in a pond in the next down over and saw this one here growing in a field that was clear cut about 10 years ago.