Forum home› Plants
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Yukka - remove brown leaves

shaunaustin500cTOOAeeXshaunaustin500cTOOAeeX Posts: 3
in Plants
Hi everyone,

i moved into a new house last year and the front garden has a small (what I think is a..) yukka. About 2 thirds of the leaves have gone an unsightly brown colour. Just wondering if I should trim these away or just leave them to fall away naturally? If I cut them away, will that encourage new leaves to grow?

Thanks!

Posts

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    You can pull the brown leaves away from the stem without hurting the plant. New leaves won't regrow from the stem.
    However, the plant itself is in way too small a pot so will need to go into something much bigger or be planted in the ground.
    You've probably already found that the leaf tips are extremely sharp so do be careful when handling the plant.  You can actually just snip off the points on all the leaves if you have it somewhere where it may cause a problem - it won't be detrimental to the plant.
  • shaunaustin500cTOOAeeXshaunaustin500cTOOAeeX Posts: 3
    Hi, 

    Thanks for the advice. The plant is actually in the ground, rather than a pot. 

    Will new leaves grow at all? It will look pretty bare once I've removed the brown leaves.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    edited June 2022
    It looks as if the main trunk of your plant has been cut at some stage, thus generating  two new growing points/stems.  The one on the left with green leaves is fine, the other on the right is struggling.  Before you remove the brown leaves, check to see if there is still a green growing point in the centre of the stem on the right.  If it's green, remove the surrounding brown leaves and wait for new leaves to emerge from the growing point.  If it's brown, I'm afraid there'll be no further growth from that point and you can remove the entire stem - this action may then encourage the plant to produce another growing point/stem off the main trunk.  The leaves will usually detach by hand, but if there's any resistance use a sharp pair of secateurs.  Keep your plant well watered while it recovers but not waterlogged.  It should then make progress.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • shaunaustin500cTOOAeeXshaunaustin500cTOOAeeX Posts: 3
    Thanks for the advice. Having taken a closer look, it does appear that the right point is dead/dying. I've tried to show it in the pictures. The thing I'm holding just came away with no force whatsoever. There isn't any clear sign of growth so I was thinking I should just cut away all the brown leaves. Would you agree?
  • Mrs-B3-Southampton,-HantsMrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants Posts: 732
    Yes, they will come away easily.
    Southampton 
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Yes, remove all the brown leaves and the entire right stem as close to the main trunk as you can.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


Sign In or Register to comment.