Removing Yuccas


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Old 03-15-10, 11:50 AM
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Removing Yuccas

We have yuccas that we need to remove. They are on the corner of our lot and are over grown. What is the best way to remove them?
 
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Old 03-15-10, 12:34 PM
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There are a lot of different types of yucca's. Is there some reason why cutting them down and digging up the roots would not do the job?
 
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Old 03-15-10, 08:15 PM
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I'm also in Nebraska... there are 2 varieties that I know of that grow here... One is the soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca) Very thin leaf, very sharp and pointy on the end! The other seems more domesticated (yucca filamentosa, or Adam's Needle) it's darker green, has a much wider leaf, and sometimes has what looks like string near the base of some of its leaves.

Not sure which you might have, but I know the Adam's Needle has a lot of root bulbs and you have to dig and dig or they will keep coming up. It seems like just the smallest piece of root will sprout again.

The soapweed yucca grows wild in mostly sandy soils, and to my knowledge has a pretty good rootball, but transplants well.

Are you trying to erradicate them or just thin them out?
 
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Old 03-16-10, 10:09 AM
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I needed to remove them totally. They are on a street corner and were overgrown. It could cause a vision problem for smaller cars, plus they just collect trash that blows by. I ended up triming the needles back then chopping them off at the ground with an axe. I had about ten plans that were way overgrown. It took me about three hours to get rid of this mess. I did more research online and from what I have read the best thing to do to kill the roots is treat them with tree and vine killer. I am planning on doing this once it warms up a bit.

I even had a lady stop while is was taking them out and asked if she could have a couple of the plants I was removing. I let her have as many as she wanted.
 
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Old 03-16-10, 04:09 PM
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LOL, we have a couple clumps growing in one area of the landscaping at our congregation and we have to thin them every year... and yes, people around town really like them. We usually will put them in a cardboard box that says FREE, set them by the street and they disappear. Its a win-win situation.

You'll probably see them sprouting back in late May, early June. You can either dig up whatever grows back or keep hitting them with the brush killer.
 
 

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