Hardy Yuccas Can Generally Grow Outside Year-Round – But Winter Wet Can Be A Threat
Elizabeth is a Permaculture Garden Designer, Sustainability Consultant and Professional Writer, working as an advocate for positive change. She graduated from the University of St. Andrews with an MA in English and Philosophy and obtained a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design from the Permaculture Association.
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
IN THIS GUIDE
Yuccas are succulents that can be grown indoors as houseplants all year round, and some types can also be grown outdoors in milder locations.
Understanding how to care for yuccas in winter involves understanding the needs of the particular type and variety of yucca you are trying to grow.
How you should care for your yucca in winter will depend on whether you are growing a tender or a hardy type.
Hardy yuccas can grow outside year-round in most places throughout the UK, but winter wet can be a threat, so they must be grown in a free-draining location.
Tender yuccas cannot cope with winter temperatures in the UK, so must be moved for winter into a cool conservatory or indoors, or grown as houseplants year-round.
Container-grown yucca should be watered only sparingly over the winter months.
Caring For Hardy Types
Hardy yuccas include species such as Y. filamentosa, Y. flaccida and Y. gloriosa.
These all have a hardiness rating of H5 and can cope with winter temperatures throughout most of the UK, even during extremely cold winters.
However, even these hardy yuccas cannot cope with waterlogged conditions, so with our wet winters, these plants will only survive in very dry and sheltered spots with free-draining conditions and ideally some protection from winter deluges.
If you choose a suitable spot from the outset then a hardy yucca should make it through the winter months outside just fine.
“Make sure that you select a free draining spot but also keep a keen eye on the spots that defrost or where snow rarely settles or melts first,” says Colin Skelly, a Horticultural Consultant.
“These will be the spots to plant Yuccas and other moderately hardy plants.”
Caring For Tender Types
While some tender yuccas are H3 hardy and therefore able to stay outside in winter in the mildest and some coastal regions of the UK, most must be moved and taken indoors for winter or grown as houseplants year-round.
For example, Y. aloifolia needs temperatures above 7°C and Y. elephantipes needs temperatures above 10°C.
Therefore, these and other tender species are typically grown indoors throughout the year or brought inside by the end of August before being placed outside again in a sheltered and sunny spot the following May.
Yuccas in containers should be watered only sparingly in the winter and should not be fed.
Allow the top 5cm of the growing medium to dry out before watering again thoroughly, making absolutely sure that excess water can drain away freely.
