I always start dahlia tubers in pots. They need warm soils and heat to initiate growth and soils in my area are too slow to warm up so that if you plant directly in the ground, they tend to be late to show up. After they have grown to about 10-12 inches, I transplant carefully into garden. That's usually midMay in my area with a soil temp of around 60F. Full sun.

Oh my days litterbuggy you've cracked me right up! I guess guess how sharp their leaves can be, one could say "live by the Yucca, die by the Yucca...Yucca, Yucca, Yucca". Oh, that was my poor attempt at a joke, I think I failed! Ha! But, I can absolutely see someone thinking they were being harassed by a gang of yuccas for exactly this reason. This is a lovely one, I've never seen this type of yucca before, just gorgeous. I believe mine is a elephantipes, but I may be wrong. I was told it was a Yucca by someone I would think would know, but I can't be certain. Thanks kindly for posting this pic though, makes you realise there's such variety in the world. I would love for someone, anyone to identify my plant, if it is a Yucca and if so, what sub-type. Would come in handy! tropicofcancer your idea seems like a great one, I don't know if I have enough to work with. I have approximately 14inches of curvy stem, including the bottom which looks rather dark and possibly unhealthy compared to the rest of the trunk. Will this be enough, to you knowledge? And, would you suggest I reuse the same pot and soil the Yucca is already in, once I've cut off the roots and found the healthy? Or should I discard this medium? Gosh, I hope my Yucca survives. (Below I've put some pics of a new development, I'll go to explain too.) I can't say I have an area outdoors that's safe for the cuttings as you've described. My outdoors bit is hit with sun from early morning for a few hours, before going into shade. It's east facing. Would it be acceptable to have it indoors, until I can place it in some medium? Below are some updated pics. I thought one of the problems might be that the top of the trunk is exposed. It's always been this way, but I seem to see this type of tree with a waxy type substance 'capping' it off. In the comments section of the video they thankfully address this, it turns out I can use normal unscented candle wax, which is what I'll do! There's a new development of marks on the leaves, happened overnight. They're very small, but as they came on so quickly I'm wondering if this is a sign of something else, like a fungal infection? And, how to deal with it. It might be nothing, but I'm thinking it's something! If I'm going to propagate, is this going to be a problem? Should I cut off the leaves that have these marks? The UK is different in terms of what we can/can't use on plants with fungicides and such, so if anyone has any specific ideas I'm all ears. In the mean time I'm going to try and look around and see if can find some certain answers. I fear I'm doing way too much, all at once, and I might just be the death of dear Yucca! But, I welcome any thoughts people have, everyone has been extremely keen on helping and providing insight it's been a great learning experience so far. So, yes, thanks! You really do learn something new every day. Very small but new spots of leaves, cause unknown: Top of Yucca: Take care everyone. I look forward to your thoughts.

Texas, Jay; and it was nandina domestica...a whole bunch of them! :) With my luck, any 'retribution' would likely backfire. Actually this is the exact same area where the (same) neighbor's Passiflora incarnata 'Incense' is poking through -- and I think I want those. (Famous last words...check back with me next August: you all may need to talk me off the ledge!) So, actually, as I go through and pull up what I think are artemisia roots, I may inadvertently damage the passionflower. (Haha...have thought not enough out!) This is a full-afternoon-sun part of the yard, and I've already noticed the syriaca doesn't appreciate our heat. Remember, the seeds sprouted very easily; but as soon as the seedlings reached ~ 4-5" in height, they just shriveled and died. I did set the pots (and yogurt cups) aside, in case they come back this spring.

That’s interesting. I just went to the Monrovia.com website and put all my requirements in for growing zone, height, spread, evergreen, full sun and lower water use and only 3 options came up. Blue Arrow juniper, Taylor juniper and Spartan juniper and I didn’t even specify that I wanted junipers. Spartan juniper says it can get 5 feet wide at the base. So, I don’t know why it came up when I had filtered it for 2-3ft spread. Maybe the Spartan can be pruned to keep a narrow base? The Taylor juniper says it can grow to 30 feet and the Blue Arrow 12-15 feet. I think anything over 10 feet high will be good enough so even the Blue Arrow would be fine. Since the mature height of the Taylor juniper is 30 feet, does that mean that it will reach the 10 foot minimum height I need for privacy much faster than the Blue Arrow would? Since the intended use is for providing privacy from the neighbor’s upstair window view, are there any issues spacing them close together so there would be no gap between them at mature size?