How to Transplant Adam's Needle Yucca

Water the soil around the yucca deeply about a day before you transplant it if it has not rained recently. While the yucca may not require the moisture, this watering will make the soil easier to penetrate.

Dig up the Adam's needle yucca using a sharp spade to create a root ball that extends about 6 to 12 inches out from the base of the plant, cleanly severing any roots you encounter with the sharp point of the spade. Pieces of yucca root left in the site may resprout voraciously later, so if you are trying to eradicate the yucca in a certain spot, dig up and dispose of any roots left in the soil after you dig up the yucca's root mass.

Set the yucca in a shaded, cool spot out of hot, drying winds if you cannot plant it in its new position immediately.

Inspect the yucca's root mass. Use a sharp knife to cut off any dead, diseased or damaged roots. If you wish to divide the yucca to propagate it or want to make the yucca smaller and easier to handle by discarding the older central part and retaining young shoots or pups around the clump's perimeter, use the sharp spade, knife or a small hatchet to create multiple new plants. Each new section you create should have a root system proportionate to the above-ground portion of the plant.

Dig a planting hole for each Adam's needle yucca you will plant, making each hole two to three times wider than the root mass and as deep. If you are planting several yuccas, space them 3 to 5 feet apart.

Set each yucca in the center of a prepared planting hole. Add or remove soil so the Adam's needle yucca is planted at the same depth at which it was growing previously. If the soil in the new site does not offer excellent drainage, position the yucca so its crown is about 1 to 2 inches above the soil level to prevent problems with root or crown rots.

Fill in the space around the yucca's root mass with soil you removed to dig the hole, gently firming the soil down as you go to force out air pockets. Water the soil around the yucca deeply and slowly and add soil, if needed, to make up for any settling.