Sagging Yucca Arms Need Support or....

Q. I have this Yucca for about 15 years and I am getting concerned about all the growth on the arm that you can see from enclosed photo. It is getting real heavy and I don't want it to snap. Any suggestions?

Readers yucca with sagging arm.

A. Your photograph was forwarded to me to look at . . . . It is pretty cool that the arm with seeming all the foliage is really an arm that sprouted at least 3 terminal buds  . . There are three, maybe more but I am sure I can count 3 developing arms from the end of the one arm making the arm look exceedingly well foliaged . . .That's just the nature of many of the Yuccas . .  Just look at the more vertical arm and you can see a number years ago that arm set an off shoot

For a possible engineering solution . . .If your neighborhood association's codices, deed restrictions or anything else that HOAs might impose allows it I would suggest propping the arm some where along the arm that is parallel to the ground . . I have seen a single 2" X 4" stuck up straight up might suffice but two 2" X 4" to form an no-symmetrical "X" with the upper crossing would be higher than the bottom half and use the crotch to prop the arm up . . .

It can be made a bit more 'rustic' by using older more weathered lumber . . .If you want to fashion a cradle in the crotch of the "X" there will a wider spread of the weight out more than the direct contact with the two 2" X 4" . .

By supporting it the side shoots forming the crown will begin to grow and the weight plus the moment arm affect will cause it to be heavier and heavier with age . . .

Cutting it off is obviously an option also . .

Terry Mikel