Remember the past two summers when I was obsessed with killing the damn yucca plant in my front yard?
I actually managed to kill it. Since it got warm this spring, I have been anxiously checking and rechecking the area where it grew before to make sure no rogue sprouts are coming back. Since it is August, I think I am actually safe.
I keep getting search engine hits for “How to Kill a Yucca Plant” so I am posting this as a public service message.
Things that did NOT kill the yucca plant:
- Squirting it with Round Up.
- Chopping off all the leaves, spraying it with bee killer (there was a beehive in its roots), then painting the leaf stumps with Round Up.
- Mixing Round Up with oil then spraying it on the leaves.
- Digging out a 10 foot by 5 foot area 2 feet deep, throwing out hundreds of gallons of roots and dirt, then filling the hole with an entire bottle of total vegetation kill. (While this didn’t kill the yucca, two years later we still can’t get grass to grow in the area of the yard near the former hole. Weeds yes, grass no.)
- Digging a bigger hole and using more random plant killing chemicals.
- Filling the hole with water, then covering it with a tarp for a month in an attempt to drown the yucca and periodically re-filling the nasty moldy hole with more water.
- Setting the hole on fire.
How did I finally kill the yucca?
1.) I let one of the sprouts grow until the leaves were about as long as my forearm.
2.) I gathered them up into a bunch and held them together with a rubber band.
3.) I cut the tops off the leaves with scissors.
4.) Filled a large plastic cup with Round UP (possibly the long-term plant killing kind, I can’t remember)
5.) Submerged the leaf-tops several inches deep in Round UP.
6) Weighed them down with a big rock so they would stay in the cup.
7.) Covered the cup with plastic so rain wouldn’t dilute the RoundUp. (Make sure that some of the leaves are exposed to sunlight because photosynthesis is how RoundUP works, I think).
8.) Waited about a month.
Then the MOTHER FUCKER died.
And that, my friends, is how you kill a yucca plant.
____________________________________________________
PS. Would you believe how much money we spend on organic groceries and on my organic garden and still I unloaded a huge toxic payload of chemicals in the front yard to kill that plant? I was a woman obsessed.
I sawed down the 6 big yucca plants I had that were at least 7 ft. tall but at least 50 more small ones came back up and I chop or pull them up every three weeks. I used Round-Up and got no where. But I was wondering about the liquid you get from using Damp Rid. I use it to kill red ants by taking a rod a putting it in the center of the fire ant hill as deep as it will go and then pour the liuid accumilated from using it in the house, and pour it in the hole and it sure kills them. I know several people that have used salt to kill trees they didn’t want in their yard but were not allowed to cut down otherwise. God, hot I hate these plants!
I don’t understand how you cut the tops and then put leaves in a cup of Round Up. The leaves are growing up, not downward.
The yuccas in my yard in Va. stay green in winter even when it’s below zero for a week. They stop the blades on the lawn mower. They stab you if you reach for them. The blooms suck in bees never to return. I even lost a cat in the thicket of them. They must be stopped.
We dug out our yucca plant today. It was about 5 feet tall and sharp as hell. I have been obsessed with killing the thing for months. Thanks for your help. We are gonna wait till one of the suckers rears its ugly head, and drown its amputated limbs in round-up. It. Must. Die. This is a gladiatorial fight and I’ll be screwed if that fucker’s gonna get one over on me.
Half a stick of dynamite???
Hi all,
can’t help but notice the tone of utter hatred toward yucca.I sympathize. My grandmother planted 5 yucca plants 40 years ago. since then she then she has died leaving me and my husband who inherited the house with tons of yucca to deal with. We’ve dug out countless areas (80 plants and shoots in one section) and three years later are basically back where we started. Have tried burning- they don’t burn as you all already know. Thanks for the tips, we”ll be sure to try some roundup. Goodluck all!
I have about 10 of these god forsaken plants in my back yard. They are all in one corner. I am on a mission to kill these bastards before the summer. I have a shed that I am going to put in their place so they don’t grow back. Thanks for the tips y’all!!! I will keep you posted.
I found on this site is because I was searching the web for a way to kill the Yucca in my garden I’ve been fighting with for several years.
I’m pretty sure the Yucca is winning the battle despite my valiant efforts. Over the last 6 years, my struggle kill this evil plant has proven fruitless.
Today was the first warm day in months and I decided to go outside and plant some spring bulbs that I didn’t get a chance to plant in the fall.
I went outside and looked in the garden that was full of overgrown, unkempt Yucca when I moved in. It was like a mini Jungle. There was no other detectable life in the garden other than those plants. I guess the previous owner just gave up. Some of this stuff was 4-5 feet tall with trunks. I spent more than a week sawing and hacking away until I finally got rid of it. Little did I know, it would only be temporary. I’ve been fighting with the evil plant from hell ever since.
When I went out today, I had a relatively large Yucca plant and several babies growing UNDER the leftover snow. We had over 45 inches of snow in the beginning of February in a period of about two weeks and freezing temperatures pretty much the entire month that kept the snow from melting and this plant grew! I know it wasn’t there in the fall because I cut the babies down to the ground and spray them with Round up every time I see them.
As far as I can tell, these plants are indestructable. I’m going out now to face the enemy and try the roundup in a cup trick. I’ll post again if it works. If I don’t post again, you’ll know I didn’t make it back, but, promise me you won’t give up the fight. Just because one battle was lost, doesn’t mean we can’t win the war!
Use a herbicide called “Remedy”, or “Tordon”. If you’re only killing a few plants, use a disposable syringe and put about 4cc of the herbicide directly in the center of the plant. It will be more effective if you can place the chemical as near to the heart of the plant as possible. You can also use agents like oil that will help the chemical stick to the plant. For household use vegetable oil is fine. Just make sure that your diluted mix contains 4 cc’s of herbicide. Time will take care of the rest. A lot of time infact. Yucca plants have tap roots that can reach something like 60 feet into the ground, so they’re well supplied with nutrients. And if it doesn’t do the job, then retreat the plants until they are dead.
I have a confession to make. I stumbled into this yucca-killing mob while I was online looking for…….ways to start a new yucca plant from an existing one.
Gasp! It’s true. Thirty years ago my mother became enamored with the plants and started some around her back patio. It was a family joke how much she liked the crazy things. The plants thrived (surprise) and they have never taken over the back yard area (bigger surprise). My mom died about a year and a half ago, and my dad is going to sell the house. So, I’m going to arm myself with a shovel, gloves and basic body armor and go out there and get me some yucca!! I figure I have 5-7 years before I start hating the thing- and I’m probably going to sell the house and move on around that time anyway!
*I do think that I will print out some of the “sure-fire” ways to kill yuccas though, in case it turns on me!
I tried to dig them up, but they keep returning…I even threw some of the cut up pieces into the woods behind my yard- and now they are growing there!
I hate these plants!
I dug mine up before reading here, I know there are roots still but got out as much as possible……I had a dozen of them and were mulched with gravel. I put a ton of left over rock salt in the holes, and soaked real good so it wouldn’t run off if it rains. If they come back, I will try the cup of roundup. Wish me luck .LOLOLOLOLOL ha ha ha ah
I guess I should go collect them from my woods.
I think it’s finally dead!! (See my May 13th, 2009 post) Used the “cut off leaves sunk in cups of Round-up” method described on this site. It’s been 1 year, and no new shoots!! Thank you, thank you!
Yucca plants DO NOT die. I will forever rue the day we planted one harmless Yucca plant. I have been trying and trying and trying and trying to kill the shoots for 5 consecutive years. I have dug down to China and back and painstakingly screened the soil before dousing it with a 55 gallon drum of Roundup while three days later dumping 12 cans of charcoal fluid lighter on the area and setting it ablaze.
Next step is to put the house up for sale.
napalm? or try to burn the surrounding ground till it is sterile, worked for me.
I am on my fourth week with the RoundUp in a cup. That plant looks pretty dead to me. I guess we just dig it up now, right? There is not a green leaf on that thing. I just hope the root is not huge when we remove it. But I can assure you that the RoundUp in a cup has killed the outer leaves. I will let you know about the root. We are going to tackle it tomorrow.
Nancy would really like to know if this method works – because I have some of these plants that keeps giving off more babies and its taking over the front of my home – it needs to go!!!! Please let me know if its dead! Thanks
Lisa:
We left the cups of RoundUp on the Yucca plant one month. This was a huge plant so we put six cups around it. We pulled it up two weeks ago and I difinitely believe the root is dead. No sprouts are coming back. Read my three posts. This definitely worked. We are doing the second and final plant now. This is a working plan to remove Yuccas. Takes a little work but is definitely worth it. Best wishes on removing your Yucca plant.
Week four, no sprouts. The root is definitely dead. This method works Lisa. I have just started on the second and last Yucca plant in our yard. DON’T EVER PLANT A YUCCA PLANT IN YOUR YARD.
To Lisa and to the person who posted this remedy for killing Yucca Plants. We begin week 5 of the RoundUp plan on the Yucca Plant in our yard. We removed it today. The leaves and roots were so rotten they smelled terrible but the plant just pulled right out of the ground, roots and all. We had four trash bags of dead, rotten limbs and roots. However, I can see some white parts of the root left. Does this mean that baby Yucca’s are going to start growing? Thanks so much for your response and yes, your recommendation does work. Thanks for sharing.
So far, no sprouts Lisa. I believe the root is dead.
Almost two weeks Lisa and still not sprouts. I think the RoundUp in a cup process finished that ugly plant off. Thanks to the woman on a mission.
I would like to thank all you, not only for the great ideas and stories, but you made me laugh so hard reading your replies that I almost forgot I came here looking to kill my damn yucca plant!!! That’s awesome! Good luck to all I will try the “cup” method, and may your yucca plants die!
Good luck Kris. One of ours is definitely dead from this method. It has been amost two months since we removed it and no sprouts have come up. I am working on the second one. We are on the second week in cups on it. Best wishes on killing your Yucca Plant.
I have been fighting the YUCK-a fight for about 10 years now. I rented my house for all of these years and have now decided to buy it. I have several YUCK-a plants that I have been fighting for the entire 10 years I have lived here.
I have cut them, dug them, put dirty motor oil 2 feet down the middle of them, burnt them, had a landscaper come try to get them out, gassed them, put transmission on them and they just come back with a vengence.
I have since given up to the almighty YUCK-a plant. They have gotten so large that they have built themselves up on a pedistal (literally).
Now that I have found this website, had some tears of laughter, and found people like me who are fighting the good fight, I have some renewed hope. I will be back in touch to let you all know how my fight is going.
Thanks for the laughs and the advise!
Angela in NJ
Two Yucca Plants gone and no sprouts. Thank you, thank you for this method and for all of the laughs while reading through the blogs.
Lisa
Or should I say the Yucca Assasin. I have 7 Plants on the side of my house that I hate and have tried to kill in the past with gasoline but did nothing I also poured a half gallon of round up on it. I might as well have given it a popsicle to eat. I will keep you all posted in my quest for Yucca Death.