Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Preparing to answer your question, we queried the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Database on "yucca" and got 25 possibilities. So, we don't know which yucca you are growing, but the answers to your questions are pretty generic, and we picked a couple for demonstration. Hesperaloe parviflora (redflower false yucca) and Yucca faxoniana (Eve's needle). Both are native to Texas and are frequently seen in landscaping in your area. Hesperaloe parviflora is not even a true yucca, but a member of the Lily Family. Yucca faxoniana is often seen growing wild on rocky hillsides and is a member of the Century Plant Family. We always think it is a good idea to clip off stalks of plants after they have flowered. This helps to cut down on litter and possible insect or disease damage. The problem there, of course, is getting close enough to them to clip those stalks; we hope you have some leather gloves and long-handled lopping shears. In regard to your second question about fertilizing yucca, one of the beauties of native plants is they seldom or never need fertilizing. They have been growing and flourishing in sometimes inhospitable environments for many thousands of years without the intervention of gardeners armed with hoses and sprays. If the plant is in a flower bed or border and you are throwing a little timed-release fertilizer in there, it certainly won't hurt the yuccas. Just remember, the faster those yuccas grow, the longer and more lethal those dagger-like leaves are going to be.