Unusually and originally, a plant that looks like a tropical palm tree yucca will help to improve and green the summer cottage. An exotic shrub is called a garden palm tree or a tree of happiness, and many gardeners and summer residents are sure that yucca brings happiness and luck to its owners.

How fastidious is the plant, can it grow and multiply in the local climate, and how can it be used? Let's try to figure everything out in order.

Content

1. Yucca exotic in the garden
2. The healing properties of yucca
3. What types of yucca can be grown in open ground  video
4. Planting yucca in the garden
5. Features of gardening yucca care  video
   • watering and feeding yucca
   • garden palm transplant
   • yucca shelter for the winter
   • yucca diseases and pests
6. Yucca propagation methods

Yucca exotic in the garden

Yucca is a very showy and ornamental plant in the Agave family. This is a perennial tree-like shrub with a unbranched (sometimes branched) stem. Yucca varieties are found in which the stem is very small, it is practically invisible, and the leaves rise above the ground in a bunch.

Yucca is especially beautiful during flowering of the inflorescence erect and quite long (about 200 cm) grow from the very center of the leaf rosette. The flowers are white in color, and in shape resemble ordinary bells, but larger (flower size about 7 cm in length).

Yucca grows very quickly and already in the first year the plant reaches 1.5 meters (the height of an adult plant is about three meters).

Yucca is often used in the creation of flower beds, in the general garden composition and as a single decoration of the site. Yucca may well become a central element in landscape design; it will look great like a tapeworm in a park clearing or a green lawn.

Yucca is also used to edge garden trees, planting a group of 3-6 plants of the same species.

If the conditions of the garden allow (good lighting), then you can arrange the paths and paths with a yucca, this will add softness and bring an atmosphere of comfort to the suburban area.

Yucca looks very exotic and is able to diversify and revitalize any garden plot, but it must be borne in mind that not all types of yucca can grow in the open ground and please with beautiful green foliage and abundant flowering.

The healing properties of yucca

Studies have shown that yucca contains antioxidants, chlorophyll, enzymes and other beneficial substances. Yucca-based medicines lower cholesterol, increase the body's resistance to diseases and help get rid of polyps in the intestines.

Yucca has a beneficial effect on the respiratory system, helps cleanse the body of harmful substances and increases blood pressure.

Yucca leaves are also used in dermatology. Decoctions for external use are prepared from it for skin diseases such as lichen planus, neurodermatitis, eczema, psoriasis.

The extract from yucca fibers and flowers used in cosmetology is part of creams and shampoos

Large fleshy leaves of the plant contain anthraquinones and steroid saponin, thanks to this yucca is used in the synthesis of hormonal drugs that have anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects.

Yucca root is widely used (especially in the USA) in the treatment of arthritis and bursitis. A positive effect is achieved due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the plant (swelling decreases) and the presence of saponins (prevent the formation of new cartilage).

The root crop contains poisonous glycosites, therefore it is impossible to use the root without preliminary treatment. Processing involves drying, soaking and fermentation

What types of yucca can be grown in open ground

The Yucca genus includes about 40 species of perennial tree plants coming from the subtropics of North America.

Yucca can be grown at home or grow in open ground, it depends on the type and variety of the selected plant. For planting a yucca on a garden plot, the following plant species are usually used:

• yucca filamentous;
• yucca gray;
• yucca is elephant.

Yucca Filamentous  grows successfully in our climatic conditions is able to withstand a short-term temperature drop to -20 degrees. It is most popular among summer residents and gardeners due to its beautiful appearance and relative unpretentiousness to care.

Leaves of yucca filamentous have a xiphoid shape (length 30-60 cm, width 3-10 cm), slightly bent at the top, and the edges of the sheet framed by dense protruding threads. In August-September, the plant blooms. Peduncle in the form of a branched panicle (height up to 2.5 m), on which white cup-shaped flowers are placed (length about 7 cm). The stem is practically absent a characteristic feature of filamentous yucca. Landing and care require compliance with a number of rules:

• the soil for planting should not be clay;
• sunny place for growing yucca;
• for winter, the plant needs shelter.

Yucca Sizaya  has a short trunk, grayish-green leaves with light edges (length up to 90 cm, width 1-2 cm) are collected in a bunch. Inflorescences are racemose, narrow and small-branched. The flowers are yellowish or greenish-white. Gray yucca tolerates drought and may well grow on the sands. Yucca can be landed on a slope on which water cannot linger, but will flow down. When growing yucca with gray, it is important to remember that waterlogging and partial shade can cause plant death.

Gray yucca, like yucca filamentous, is frost-resistant, so it can often be found in the gardens and parks of Russia and Ukraine.

Yucca Elephant  more demanding on weather conditions and does not tolerate frosts, so this species is more common in the south of the country. The plant has a wide trunk, which in an adult yucca in shape resembles the foot of an elephant. Shiny, xiphoid-shaped leaves are light green in color and grow mainly in the upper part of the trunk. From the bottom of the trunk, the leaves gradually fall off (a natural process) and the trunk is covered with numerous scars.

In the summer, an elephant yucca blooms with white flowers. Bell flowers grow at the very top of the plant and are collected in separate inflorescences.

Planting yucca in the garden

Before planting yucca in open ground, it must be hardened. To do this, within one to two weeks, the plant must be regularly taken out, increasing the time spent in the fresh air.

Ideal for garden yucca is the sunniest, hottest spot on the site. Well, if this place is located on a hill. For planting, a site is not suitable, near which there are groundwater, the yucca does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil.

It is necessary to plant a young plant in the spring, when the air temperature during the day averages about 20 degrees, and at night about 10 degrees.

The hole for planting a yucca must be prepared in advance, in the fall. The size of the pit should be larger than the root system of the plant itself.

As drainage, sand or coarse gravel can be laid at the bottom of the pit. It is necessary to sprinkle the drainage layer with ash, plant a yucca in the ground, carefully sprinkle the roots with the ground, pressing with your hands. After this, the flower should be watered a little.

When choosing the composition of the soil for planting, it should be borne in mind that Yucca does not tolerate acidic soils (the maximum permissible soil acidity is 7.5 pH). Black soil, sandy, clay-stony and calcareous soils are suitable for it.

Features of gardening yucca care

Gardeners and summer residents, planning to plant a garden palm in the country, think about the features of growing yucca. Care and reproduction will not require much effort, you only need to know some of the features of this tropical plant.

watering and feeding yucca

Since yucca does not tolerate dampness, it should be watered only as necessary. You should not water the yucca as soon as the soil has become slightly moist, you must wait until the topsoil has completely dried.

However, if the leaves of the plant began to fade a little or dry out, then they can be moistened from a spray bottle. It is better to do this early in the morning or in the evening, when the sun is not so active.

During the period of active growth (in spring), the yucca needs fertilizer. As a top dressing, liquid humus or compost, as well as complex mineral fertilizers for succulents, are suitable. It is possible to carry out foliar top dressing by spraying the lower leaves of the plant with solutions of complex fertilizers.

garden palm transplant

To preserve the beauty and flowering of a garden palm tree, it is necessary to periodically transplant a yucca. Care, transplantation and relocation of the yucca in the garden should be carried out in accordance with the rules:

• plant transplantation is done in spring (before the start of active growth) or at the end of summer;
• transplantation is necessary if the plant has grown too much and needs to divide the bush;
• the place for transplantation should be bright and protected from drafts;
• garden yuccas are less demanding on soil composition than indoor so they can grow in one place for up to 20 years;
• in the process of digging up a yucca, it is important not to damage its root system, which in an adult plant can reach up to 70 cm in depth (you need to dig as deep as possible);
• the first feeding after transplantation should be carried out no earlier than two weeks later;
• after transplanting, the plant will bloom in a year.

yucca shelter for the winter

Despite the fact that garden yuccas are hardy, it’s better to insulate them. Because plants can withstand only short-term frosts, and a prolonged decrease in temperature can affect the flowering of yucca or even lead to its death.

Young plants especially need to be insulated, which must be covered for the first two years

In dry weather (late October to early November), the sprawling leaves of a garden palm tree must be collected in a bunch and tied carefully (from the bottom to the crown). A couple of layers of lower leaves can be left on the surface of the earth, they will become additional protection against freezing of the soil.

The base of the yucca can be covered with a thick layer of leaves and laid on them planks or sticks (for weighting, so as not to blow off in a strong wind).

You can cover the bush with polyethylene or pour a layer of earth (15-20 cm high) around the base of the yucca.

After the winter, with the advent of young leaves, old, yellowed leaves can be cut, thus updating the plant. After winter, the bound leaves of the yucca must be released in cloudy weather or in the evening.

yucca diseases and pests

Like any garden plant, yucca is exposed to diseases and attacks of various pests. After wintering or when the humidity is high, yucca leaves may become yellow. This can also be observed in plants with a significant increase in air temperature or the prolonged absence of a sufficient amount of sunlight. Some gardeners are trying to make a difference by highlighting the plant with a special lamp.

Among the most common pests attacking garden yuccas, scutellaria and slugs should be distinguished.

The first sign of appearance on the plant shields   yucca leaves are covered with brown plaques. An effective alternative method of dealing with it is daily rubbing the affected leaves with a cotton swab moistened with water, and weekly rubbing (once a week) with a cotton swab moistened with vodka.

If a garden yucca is attacked slugs, then the plant must be treated with insecticides.

Among other pests found false shield, which spreads on both sides of the leaf and slows the growth of yucca. Measures to combat false shields include spraying yucca with an actellik (0.5 drops of water 10 drops) and wiping the sheet plates with the prepared solution.

From the bottom of the sheet can settle spider mites. The color of the leaves loses its brightness, becoming pale green with yellow. Whitish spots may form on the leaves, and over time, the leaves die off. Sick leaves should be sprayed with a systemic insecticide or derris.

Yucca propagation methods

Reproduction of yucca is possible vegetative and seed way. Under natural conditions, cross-pollination of the plant takes place, in which the main role will be played by the moth butterfly from the genus of the pronot. Butterfly transfers pollen from flower to flower, laying eggs on plants. The developing seeds are enough to feed the butterfly caterpillars and further propagate the yucca.

Unfortunately, in our area, such a butterfly does not live and it is unlikely that seed yucca will reproduce by seed. Some gardeners try to pollinate a flower artificially from the stamens of one flower, a lump of pollen is taken and transferred to the pistil of another flower. However, this method of pollination is ineffective, since the probability of pollination is low.

Usually, garden yucca is propagated by stem cuttings or by dividing a bush.

Let us consider in stages how to root a yucca by cuttings:

1. It is necessary to cut off the side rosettes with a sharp knife with a stalk. Part of the leaves below can be removed.
2. The slice should be slightly dried and sprinkled with charcoal powder.
3. The leaves on the stem can be partially shortened.
4. Prepared cuttings should be planted in a greenhouse (planting depth 3-4 cm) under glass or film. Vermiculite, sand or a sand-peat mixture can be used as a substrate for cuttings.
5. Avoid direct sunlight in the greenhouse.
6. Rooted plants are left under the film for the winter, warming them from above with leaves.

Cuttings should be carried out in the first half of summer so that the cuttings can take root before the onset of cold weather

The success of growing yucca on a personal plot largely depends on the correct choice of plant type, a good location and compliance with elementary rules for caring for it. Blooming yucca harmoniously fits into almost any landscape design and may well become the central attraction of the garden.

Author: Sergey and Svetlana Khuentsov

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