Yucca & Desert Plant Care

When to Plant

• You can plant desert plants year around. However, the ideal time is in late fall when the soil temperatures are still warm but the temperatures have cooled and there is enough time before cold weather sets in for the plant to become established.

Foliage

• The foliage of the yucca plant is sharp, and the leaves can be either thick or thin. The leaves are fibrous and have been used by the native people for weaving. Like many native desert plants, yucca plants store nutrients in their stems. Indigenous peoples harvested and ate these stems. Many desert plants have small leaves to reduce loss of moisture or fibrous, fleshy leaves like the yucca.

Flowers

• The yucca plant bears clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers on tall stems. Some cultivars of yucca bear edible flowers. According to Texas Beyond History, the flowers stalks are more palatable before the flowers emerge or they become too fibrous to eat. You can eat the flowers of the narrow-leaf yucca raw, but other yuccas should be baked before eating.

Soil

• Yucca and other plants native to the desert are used to alkaline and slightly sandy soil. If you're planning on planting yuccas or other desert plants in your garden, you may want to do a simple soil test to determine alkalinity and amend the soil with fine-grained sand. Do not add organic matter. This would increase the acidity of the soil and make it harder for the yucca plant to form a healthy root system.

Water

• Even yucca and other desert plants need water, especially the first year when the roots of the plants are forming. Desert plants develop extensive, long root systems in order to take advantage of any pockets of water deep in the desert soils. When watering your desert plants, it's important to water deeply, rather than frequently.

Pruning

• Desert plants generally don't need to be pruned. If your yucca plant has grown too tall, simply cut it to the desired size and continue watering and caring for it as usual. The plant will produce new leaves and be as good as new, albeit a bit shorter, before long. Although you can prune a yucca plant at any time, it's best to prune in early spring before new growth appears.