How to Grow and Care for Golden Sword Yucca

The Golden Sword Yucca, or Yucca filamentosa ‘Golden Sword’, is a versatile and low-maintenance plant. Its defining features are the dramatic, sword-shaped leaves with bright yellow centers and contrasting green edges. This evergreen shrub provides year-round structure and color to gardens, forming impressive clumps as it matures. In summer, it sends up tall spikes adorned with fragrant, bell-shaped white flowers.

Golden Sword Yucca Care Guide

Light

For the most vibrant color, the Golden Sword Yucca requires a location in full sun. While it tolerates partial shade, its bright yellow center is most pronounced with direct sunlight, as insufficient light can cause the color to fade. The best foliage color is often observed from fall through spring. This preference for sun exposure makes it an excellent candidate for bright, open areas of a garden.

Soil

The Golden Sword Yucca thrives in well-drained soil and is adaptable to various types, including sandy or rocky conditions. To prevent root rot, avoid planting in heavy clay soils or low-lying areas where water collects. If needed, amending the soil with organic matter like compost can improve its texture and drainage.

Water

This yucca is highly drought-tolerant once it establishes a deep root system. During the first growing season, regular and deep watering helps the plant become established. After this initial period, watering should be infrequent, allowing the soil to dry out completely between sessions.

Temperature and Hardiness

The Golden Sword Yucca is a hardy plant, tolerant of a wide range of temperatures, including frost. It is suitable for USDA hardiness zones 4 through 9, showcasing its adaptability to both heat and cold. In colder climates, applying a layer of mulch around the plant’s base can offer extra insulation during the winter, though it is not always necessary.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer needs for the Golden Sword Yucca are minimal, as it is adapted to nutrient-poor soils. If you choose to fertilize, a light application of a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in early spring is sufficient. In most garden settings, supplemental feeding is not required.

Planting and Landscaping

The ideal time to plant Golden Sword Yucca is in the spring. Dig a hole that is approximately twice as wide as the plant’s root ball and just as deep. This gives the roots ample room to spread out and establish themselves. Gently place the plant in the hole at the same depth it was in its container, then backfill with soil and tamp down to eliminate air pockets.

When incorporating this yucca into a landscape, proper spacing is important to accommodate its mature size, which can reach up to 3 feet wide. Its dramatic foliage serves well as a focal point in a garden bed or a large container. It can also be used to create modern-looking borders along pathways or paired with ornamental grasses in mixed plantings.

Pruning and Propagation

This yucca variety requires very little pruning. The primary pruning tasks involve removing the tall flower stalk after the blooms have faded and cutting away any dead or damaged leaves at the base of the plant. An annual cleanup is typically all that is needed.

Propagation is most commonly done by separating the small offshoots, often called “pups,” that develop around the base of the main plant. These offsets can be carefully removed in the spring and replanted to create new specimens. Another method involves taking root cuttings during the winter.

Solving Common Issues

The most prevalent issue for this yucca is root rot, a direct result of overwatering or planting in soil with poor drainage. Symptoms of root rot include soft, mushy leaves and a general decline in the plant’s appearance. Prevention involves ensuring the plant is in well-draining soil and is not overwatered.

Pest infestations are not common for this hardy plant. However, it can occasionally be affected by pests such as scale insects or cane borers. These issues are minor and do not pose a significant threat to the plant’s health.