Removing a big agave to make way for better things to come
The state of the backyard has been bothering me for a long time. Many of the plants are old and look tired. Some are in the wrong place. And others are permanently on the brink of death, either because of bad soil or a lack of water. Plus, four bay trees which are now over 30 ft. tall create deep shade while sucking up all the available moisture in the soil; finding plants that survive there, let alone thrive, is almost impossible.
After years of lethargy and inertia, work on making much-needed improvements has begun. I’ll have a detailed update very soon. This post is about removing a fairly big agave that was in the way. It was nice enough, but simply too large for its spot:
The agave in question is an Agave chiapensis which I bought at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden circa 2010. To my amazement, I found the original tag tucked into the soil underneath the plant:
I originally bought it because of the stated size: 18" tall by 30" wide. But as is so often the case, reality did not match the label. While the width was reasonably close to the advertised 30", the height was more than double. Here’s me in front of Agave chiapensis during the impromptu photo shoot for my recent agave wine post:
As always, the first step in the removal process is to cut off the leaves. Once again, my trusty reciprocating saw made light work of it. Having learned my lesson from previous encounters, I made sure to wear pants, a long-sleeved hoodie, and gloves (protective goggles would have been a good idea, too). Agave sap contains concentrated calcium oxalate crystals (raphides) and can cause painful contact dermatitis.
Here’s Agave chiapensis with just a halo of leaves left:
And fully pineappled:
Agaves have shallow roots. All I had to do was make a series of cuts around the perimeter of the agave using my trusty Root Slayer (best digging tool ever!). Then I was able to simply push over the pineappled core:
And voilĆ , valuable real estate reclaimed:
Eventually, the plants you see center left will come out, too, but I’m waiting for Mangave ‘Silver Fox’ to start flowering so I can transfer the pollen I collected from my friend Darell’s Agave filifera in hopes of making my own mangave hybrid.
Last Friday, I had 4 cubic yards of soil mix delivered (50% pumice, 50% garden mix), and the Agave chiapensis bed is now under almost two feet of fluffy new soil.
P.S. Looking at photos of Agave chiapensis online, it appears that most of them are smaller than mine. Maybe mine was a hybrid? We’ll never know for sure.
© Gerhard Bock, 2024. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.
Good job! That Agave doesn't qualify by any definition as "smallish." I removed some disfigured agave leaves and troublesome pups recently and in retrospect I should have followed your protective apparel guidelines.
ReplyDeleteMy plan is to use my trusty Japanese hedge shears to pineapple 'Blue Glow' . They are very sharp and will slice instead of shred. I have my Sawzall as backup if the shears fail. And yes , the Root Slayer is essential ! And if that doesn't work I have an ax. Looking forward to following the backyard transformation !
ReplyDeleteThat really opened up some space, so exciting! You picked a great week to do this, with the nice cooler weather. I look forward to seeing what you are up to.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad to know that Agave have shallow roots. I have 2 big ones (one flowered and the other rotted in center this summer) that I have to get a landscaper to remove. Can't wait to see what you do!
ReplyDeleteBye Bye agave! I know this feeling, new space to plant, what fun! (btw my comment on your agave you'd never heard of post just disappeared when I hit publish, maybe this one will too?)
ReplyDeleteI felt bad removing it, but ultimately I'm the master of my domain š
DeleteCouldn’t you have given it to someone? Seems like a waste to destroy such a beautiful old plant
ReplyDeleteAt 4x3 ft. It would have been impossible to remove intact. I estimate it weighed at least 300 pounds.
DeleteI'll be getting rid of some plants that no longer bring me joy too. Good riddance. Life is too short to keep a plant around just because we bought it and invested time and energy into it. If it is no longer what we want, it's a sunk cost. Looking forward to see what you do with the space.
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying that. So true!!
DeleteI've been making a lot of progress. Right now, I'm playing musical chairs with plants to see what works best.