What to do with these HUGE yuccas??

I have a privacy fence on both sides of my driveway. This section of fence is at the end of the driveway, facing our road. There's an identical fence on the other side of the driveway, facing our road. This fence, as you can see, has a Firebird Hibiscus at one end. I'm going to plant another one at the other end of this same fence. And on the other side of the driveway, I'll plant two hibiscus on that fence too.

Between the hibs, I wanted something tropical looking and evergreen, and thought I might keep these yuccas but move one to the other fence. But I noticed today that I have two variegated yuccas that I might like out there better.

These yuccas are huge, about as tall as I am. When the dead foliage is trimmed off, they look tropical, almost like palms. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep them, and if so, where would I put them? I don't like working around their spikes. Last year while building the fence, I cut the tips off the leaves on the one closest to the fence so it would quit poking me. LOL

Do I really wanna keep these? There are two different varieties, one with flaccid leaves and one with stiff leaves (Spanish Dagger). If I decide to get rid of them, would anyone here want them? You may have to help me dig them, but once we dig around them, we can tie a rope to them and pull them the rest of the way out with the truck. I did that with one last year and it ended up being nearly 10 big plants. Several people from Freecycle came to get them after I dug them out. I'm really leaning towards moving them out since I have the variegated ones. What do you think?

NancyAnn

I can't stand yucca's but I do like that color guard one ;0) I say dump em, there's too many beautiful daylilies or hibiscus youcan put out there ins tead LOL Love that red hibiscus, is it blooming now? or is this an old pic, I got my first bud on pink clouds about to open up any day.

my hibiscus has been covered in bugs, and I think the spray i put on them has deformed the leaves some too.

You should know, i'm not a yucca fan . so i'm a biased opinion lol

course i'm not a huge daylily fan either. but i'm being persuaded with all these beautiful daylily pics i've seen lately.

I'm not a yucca fan either until they bloom then I just love them. I say trim them up and plant under them. They look to be quite old.

I don't like things that stick me either, I could go crazy over roses if I could use only thorn less ones, they do look pretty there, but I too would say toss them, you do have so many beautiful things to go there. If you are thinking about having weddings and things, you are going to be having children running around too, just something to think about.

Sandra, the only weddings I'll have here are close friends and family and my own someday. The yuccas are planted outside the fence, along the road. So most people wont' come into contact with them. I hate the pricklies but I love that they're evergreen. I also love that they're big. If I cut all the dead foliage off, they look like palms. If I keep them, I'll move one of them to the other fence, so there's symmetry.

If I replace them, it will be with the variegated yuccas, so still the pricklies. Unless y'all can think of some other evergreen thing. I hate boxwoods and junipers and such--so overdone. I could put some Loropetalums out there perhaps. Their ever-purple foliage is delightful. And they bloom twice a year for me.

Yes, I could go nuts for roses too if they didn't have so many thorns. My Joseph's Coat has more thorns than I've ever seen on a rose! If it weren't so pretty, it would be out of here.

Maybe the plain yuccas need to go. In time the variegated ones will get big and pretty maybe. It would be nice to cut out some of the pricklies. Maybe my friend who didn't get to come to the party would want them. She'll be here in another week. Maybe I can decide by then. I dread digging them. They are very old. Maybe I should list them on Craigslist and let someone else have the pleasure of pulling them out.

KathyAnn, that photo was from last summer, but the Fireball hibiscus is loaded in buds. And the great thing is the blooms stay open all day; they don't close up around noon like some of my others. It's really spectacular--lots of blooms each day.

Sweet Bay Magnolia's are evergreen and have a small upright growth pattern and have a small magnolia flower in the summer. They are very slow growing. Just a thought.

Ok, I think I've made up my mind. The plain yuccas are going. My friend Beth will be here next weekend to take all the "thug" plants I don't want, so I'll see if she wants these yuccas. I hate to give up such old plants that are already mature and full. But there's just not enough room in my gardens for sticky-pokey things unless they're just awesome.

I don't quite have room for the Sweetbay Mag there. There's only 4 or 5 ft between the fence and the road. So maybe I'll do some loropetalums with their purple foliage. I can keep them trimmed neatly and grow the variegated yuccas and hibiscus in front of them.

I really need some curb appeal outside my fence. Maybe some zebra grass would be pretty there. Of course I'll plant a row of daylilies--whichever ones don't fit the themes of the gardens inside the fence. Maybe some stonecrop sedums too? I'd like color all year round but something low maintenance too. I hate working outside the fence. I love hiding in the cocoon I built around my gardens.

Wow, there's going to be a big bare spot when I rip out the yuccas! I guess I better hurry up and decide what I'll plant in their place. Wish Lowes had the Loros on sale. I bought a bunch for $1/gal a few years ago and they're beautiful now. I could use a bunch more. I've had no luck rooting cuttings from mine. I just don't know how y'all root things. I can't even Rose of Sharons and those are supposed to be easy.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to quit the plants incoming, cause there is no more room for them. I don't think I can care for any more flower gardens ;0)

plant those hibiscus plants there that you have coming in .

These old yuccas are coming out on Fri. A lady from Craigslist is coming to take them. She lives about 5 miles down the road. When I told her where I lived, she said she'd driven by my house everytime she came into town, so she knows where I am. Turns out, she's a gardener too--a real gardener. She has a greenhouse and grows a lot from seeds. Maybe I can talk her into taking some other stuff!

Now I get to redesign the front beds. I'll plant a variegated yucca in the center of each one and plant hibs on each side. I already have a big Fireball in one bed and I have another Fireball to match it for symmetry. In the other bed, I'll put two matching Hibs, maybe Texas Star since it's red too and I have two of them. They'll be seen from the highway and the red really shows up well against the fence. Then of course daylilies, irises, and sedums will have to be planted out there and lamb's ears since they don't require much water.

My Fireball is blooming now and it looks awesome. It's so huge! It has about a 5 or 6 ft spread and is loaded in blooms and buds.