Hi all,

I have this yucca-like plant in my garden:

http://www.aalife.com/!yucca3.jpg

It is about 1.5 mtrs tall. Can anyone identify it for me? Is it, in fact a
yucca, or is it something else?

I'd also like to know why the leaf-ends are becoming dead and shredded, as
seen in the small photo underneath (sorry it is so blurred). Would that be
due to winds, or due to over-watering (or even under-watering)?

Many thanks,

Jim

In article ,
Jim xzy wrote:

I have this yucca-like plant in my garden:

http://www.aalife.com/!yucca3.jpg

It is about 1.5 mtrs tall. Can anyone identify it for me? Is it, in fact a
yucca, or is it something else?

Gug. There are rather a lot of plants like that, though not many
are commonly grown in the UK.

I'd also like to know why the leaf-ends are becoming dead and shredded, as
seen in the small photo underneath (sorry it is so blurred). Would that be
due to winds, or due to over-watering (or even under-watering)?

Or just normal. Shredded leaf ends are common on plants with that
sort of leaf, and often are just what happens.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
says...

Hi all,

I have this yucca-like plant in my garden:

http://www.aalife.com/!yucca3.jpg

It is about 1.5 mtrs tall. Can anyone identify it for me? Is it, in fact a
yucca, or is it something else?

Not yucca; it's a cordyline australis, commonly (misleadingly) known as
cabbage palm. They are tough plants and do tend to shoot new stems from
the base, especialy if a main one gets injured. Here's what it could
become one day :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co...eAustralis.jpg

I'd also like to know why the leaf-ends are becoming dead and shredded, as
seen in the small photo underneath (sorry it is so blurred). Would that be
due to winds, or due to over-watering (or even under-watering)?

Just normal wear and tear from winter weather/ tough leaves thrashing
each other in storms, your-plant looks pretty healthy to me. I would cut
off those all-brown dead leaves at the lower end of the tallest stem, to
show off the trunk. Some loose pebbles on the soil surface would help
conserve moisture if you have a drought.

Janet

Janet wrote in
:


Not yucca; it's a cordyline australis, commonly (misleadingly) known
as cabbage palm. They are tough plants and do tend to shoot new stems
from the base, especialy if a main one gets injured. Here's what it
could become one day :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co...eAustralis.jpg

That's amazing. I felt sure it would be some kind of yucca, based on how
the leaves grow from the trunk. Perhaps CordylineAustralis and yucca are
related...


I'd also like to know why the leaf-ends are becoming dead and
shredded, as seen in the small photo underneath (sorry it is so
blurred). Would that be due to winds, or due to over-watering (or
even under-watering)?

Just normal wear and tear from winter weather/ tough leaves
thrashing
each other in storms, your-plant looks pretty healthy to me. I would
cut off those all-brown dead leaves at the lower end of the tallest
stem, to show off the trunk. Some loose pebbles on the soil surface
would help conserve moisture if you have a drought.


That's a good idea - thank you. I currently have shredded twigs and leaves
as a mulch, but I dare say pebbles might work better.

I am amazed this plant survived the winter! One day, after strong winds, a
few months ago, I found the main stem lying horizontally, having become
become totally floppy at ground level. I feared the trunk had snapped.
Nevertheless, I drove a stake into the soil to support it in it's vertical
position, and hoped it would somehow survive. Apparently, it did, because
the leaves show no sign of dying. I suspect that the trunk must end at
ground level and below that, there are just a lot of flexible roots.

Since the mishap, I have been feeding it regularly with home-made liquid
fertilizer, to hopefully add to it's general health.


Jim

Sacha wrote in :

On 2012-04-20 08:56:16 +0100, Jim xzy said:

Hi all,

I have this yucca-like plant in my garden:

http://www.aalife.com/!yucca3.jpg

It is about 1.5 mtrs tall. Can anyone identify it for me? Is it, in
fact a yucca, or is it something else?

I'd also like to know why the leaf-ends are becoming dead and
shredded, as seen in the small photo underneath (sorry it is so
blurred). Would that be due to winds, or due to over-watering (or
even under-watering)?

Many thanks,

Jim

Looks like a young Cordyline. In parts of wind swept Devon &
Cornwall, they're wrapped in fleece in winter or just have cord tied
round their 'leaves' to stop them thrashing about and getting that
sort of damage. If knocked back by frost, they'll often re-sprout
from the trunk, created a many-headed monster, as ours has done here!
It's currently working on 7!


Mine is positioned out in the open where it receives full sun for most of
the day (weather permitting). However, I have just read, on a couple of
horticultural sites, that they are best protected from full afternoon sun.

So I'm thining of moving mine to an east-facing wall, and seeing of it
lookas any healthier by the end of the Summer.

Jim

In article ,
Jim xzy wrote:
Sacha wrote in :

Mine is positioned out in the open where it receives full sun for most of
the day (weather permitting). However, I have just read, on a couple of
horticultural sites, that they are best protected from full afternoon sun.

Almost all such advice comes from copying Merkin pages. Cordyline
australis is adapted to stronger sun than we get here, and is not
a forest plant. In the UK, the afternoon sun is not as consistently
the strong sun as it is in the USA.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sacha wrote in :

I doubt that's necessary. Ours gets full sun, full wind, full frost,
full everything thrown at it. I don't like them and wasn't mourning
what looked like being its passing this past winter. But it's come
back, sprouting from the trunk and going great guns! There are a few
types and a variegated one called (iirc) Torbay Dazzler is also very
popular as is a bronze one. As Nick says, American planting advice
won't necessarily suit UK climates, so it's always best to check UK
sites for advice. I think yours is probably just recovering from the
winter.



Thanks to you and Nick! I'd love to plant mine in the ground, in the hopes
of it growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, but I gather they
like neutral-to-acid soil that's well drained. My soil is highly alkaline
and poorly drained (clayey) soil. Should I risk planting it, do you think?

Jim

"Jim xzy" wrote

Hi all,

I have this yucca-like plant in my garden:

http://www.aalife.com/!yucca3.jpg

It is about 1.5 mtrs tall. Can anyone identify it for me? Is it, in fact a
yucca, or is it something else?

I'd also like to know why the leaf-ends are becoming dead and shredded, as
seen in the small photo underneath (sorry it is so blurred). Would that be
due to winds, or due to over-watering (or even under-watering)?


As others have said, it's Cordyline australis or commonly Cabbage palm or
Cornish Palm (it isn't technically a palm). Yours looks healthy although it
has suffered a little winter damage. I notice it's in a pot, much better
planted in the garden where it will become a proper tree and look much nicer
(Sacha would disagree), they will need sun in this country. In the garden
the roots will go straight down and even if a severe frost kills the top
growth it will eventually come back from the roots.
There is a rot going around ATM that gets into damaged wood and rots the
tree from the inside, it would smell bad if that was the case and you would
need to cut it back to sound wood.
Of our two large trees we had one cut down completely last year, for some
reason it started to lean, and the other, originally an offshoot from the
first, was damaged by last winter but is shooting well from it's trunk so
should eventually look better than ever.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 20/04/2012 12:51, Jim xzy wrote:
wrote in :

I doubt that's necessary. Ours gets full sun, full wind, full frost,
full everything thrown at it. I don't like them and wasn't mourning
what looked like being its passing this past winter. But it's come
back, sprouting from the trunk and going great guns! There are a few
types and a variegated one called (iirc) Torbay Dazzler is also very
popular as is a bronze one. As Nick says, American planting advice
won't necessarily suit UK climates, so it's always best to check UK
sites for advice. I think yours is probably just recovering from the
winter.



Thanks to you and Nick! I'd love to plant mine in the ground, in the hopes
of it growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, but I gather they
like neutral-to-acid soil that's well drained. My soil is highly alkaline
and poorly drained (clayey) soil. Should I risk planting it, do you think?

It won't worry in the slightest about being in clay. I have no idea
about its response to highly alkaline soil, but if you can find a load
of pine needles then including those in the planting hole will help
acidify the soil.

--

Jeff

In article ,
says...

Thanks to you and Nick! I'd love to plant mine in the ground, in the hopes
of it growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, but I gather they
like neutral-to-acid soil that's well drained. My soil is highly alkaline
and poorly drained (clayey) soil. Should I risk planting it, do you think?

They grow like rockets in soggy acid west Scotland.

Janet

On 4/20/2012 10:02 AM, Janet wrote:
In 33.4.11,
says...

Thanks to you and Nick! I'd love to plant mine in the ground, in the hopes
of it growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, but I gather they
like neutral-to-acid soil that's well drained. My soil is highly alkaline
and poorly drained (clayey) soil. Should I risk planting it, do you think?

They grow like rockets in soggy acid west Scotland.

And in Orkney, as well.

In article ,
Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

Thanks to you and Nick! I'd love to plant mine in the ground, in the hopes
of it growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, but I gather they
like neutral-to-acid soil that's well drained. My soil is highly alkaline
and poorly drained (clayey) soil. Should I risk planting it, do you think?

They grow like rockets in soggy acid west Scotland.

North Korean rockets?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , says...

In article ,
Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

Thanks to you and Nick! I'd love to plant mine in the ground, in the hopes
of it growing as big as possible, as fast as possible, but I gather they
like neutral-to-acid soil that's well drained. My soil is highly alkaline
and poorly drained (clayey) soil. Should I risk planting it, do you think?

They grow like rockets in soggy acid west Scotland.

North Korean rockets?

Nah, most cordylines last longer than 90 seconds.

Janet

Yuccas and Cordylines are both Asparagaceae, which is family level. However Cordyline is not in the Agavoideae subfamily, where yucca is found, rather it is in Lomandroideae, whose other members are mostly rather obscure. Most people mistake Cordylines for palms. To mistake it for a yucca is a rather nearer guess than a palm.

Janet wrote in
:

Not yucca; it's a cordyline australis


Here is a close-up photo of the main trunk/stem:

http://www.aalife.com/stem1.jpg

Notice the palm-like texture of the trunk. Does anyone still think it's a
cordyline?

Thanks...

Jim