Century Plant Removal

Life Cycle

• Like other succulents, century plants survive through intense heat and drought. Despite assumptions based on the common name, century plant only lives for up to 25 years. When the plant stores up enough energy after 10 to 25 years, it produces a 15- to 40-foot tall flowering stalk. This impressive stalk features panicles of showy, greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers, but only lasts for a few weeks. Century plant expends all its energy on flower production and dies soon after the flowers fade. While you can allow the plant to decay naturally, it's better to remove the dying plant to make room for a new one.

Spines

• Century plants have spines that grow on the serrated edges along the sides of leaves and a sharp, needlelike spine at the tip of each leaf. The spines can easily puncture skin or take out an eye if you're not careful. Rather than risk injury even with great caution, remove the spines before you try to remove the plant. Use bypass pruners to clip the pointed barb from the end of each leaf. Collect them as you cut so they don't fall on the ground where they could end up poking through your shoe. The serrated leaf edges are not quite as dangerous as the tips, but you can use a razor knife or pocketknife to cut these off the leaves. After removing the spines, use a pruning saw to cut off each of the leaves in the rosette.

Pups

• The offsets, commonly called pups, which develop around the base of a century plant, can be collected and planted elsewhere in your garden. One can be set aside and replanted in the same spot, if you wish. The pups can grow throughout the plant's life and not just after flowering. Pups frequently grow in clusters in which you must cut them apart and dig up the roots. When pups grow individually, use a trowel or shovel to dig them up. The central rosette is most important, so cut away the lower leaves around the base before planting in well-drained, sandy soil or in a potting soil for cactuses and succulents.

Digging

• After stripping the plant of its spines, leaves and pups, all that's left is the central portion of the century plant. If you have heavy equipment, a rope tied around the base and to the machinery makes it easy to uproot the plant. Although a truck or winch makes removal easy, all you need to do is dig a wide circle about 18 inches out from the base of the plant. A round-point shovel works well for cutting through the ground and the removing soil to expose the root ball. When the root ball is revealed, push the shovel under the root ball and pull back on the handle, using the shovel as a lever to pry the roots out of the ground.