(Photo of beautiful, full grown agave, untrimmed)
Agaves are grown all over the world, here in Arizona they are our beautiful, large desert succulents that add depth to our homes and joy to our sights...Unless they have been trimmed badly. Many people have gotten into a misconception that agave need to be trimmed tightly, particularly in the "V Shape"(as shown below). This type of cut is actually detrimental to the agave, and just about all similar types of succulents.
Succulents use their leaves for protection from the sun, to store water and photosynthesis. When you cut the leaves off this way you are inevitably harming the plant, possibly permanently. They will no longer be able to protect themselves from the sun, or have enough leaves to store water or create food for themselves. With the trunk exposed and shaved, its now open to attack from disease, pest, and the sun.
There are times when you need to trim your agaves leaves. A healthy agave (depending on the variety) is plump, its leaves are full thick and colorful. An unhealthy agave will have signs of withering, damage to the leaves, and dead leaves that have browned or turned yellow. Sometimes snout weevils are at the root of it and require other action.
When to trim:
Bottom portion of agave is browned and dead. Trimming of old dead leaves would be beneficial.
When not to cut:
A healthy, colorful, plump agave.
No trimming needed.
"So why do people trim agaves?"
Some people may need to trim their agaves in unique ways due to walkways, such as cutting leaves in half, or removing the thorns. If the agave in question is of a decent size, transplant may be possible without having to destroy the integrity of the plant. Others cut their agaves because they are attempting to deter certain animals, such as pack rats or snakes. Every home is different, while some packrats do like making dens from agave, there usually isn't a need to cut the agave in a dramatic fashion and sometimes (more often than not) that does not work to keep away packrats. Snakes are often mercurial, they don't usually rest in the same area. Even their homes can change, and they prefer holes under ground than under agaves, they need protection from the sun too but will not roost there permanently.
Most issues occur when the "pups" of the agave have not been removed, or transplanted. They begin to form a gaggle so to speak and get too bunched up, which is usually where problems begin to arise with unwanted critters, disease, or an unappealing aesthetic. (photos of agave "pups" below).
The best time to remedy this is sooner rather than later. As soon as you start to see the small babies of the agave, that is when it's best to remove or transplant them. A skilled landscaper can help you with this, since it can be quite tricky (and pokey). You should also note that the sap of agave is poisonous, it acts like little razors that burn your skin and will give you rash or blisters. (Also do not ever eat it! It is not like Aloe Vera.) It takes a lot of experience to properly maintenance agaves, so please give us a call before attempting to trim them yourself! We here at Desert Nurture care about you and your plants and want to help create a beautiful loving space for your home. We can help maintenance your landscape properly and without harm.
Say no to pineapple agave cuts, and say yes to beautifully grown and untrimmed agave that adds wonderful aesthetic & color to your garden or space. We can help create a gorgeous design concept for you!
Also important to note, unlike other plants that bloom every spring, the agave plant will only bloom once in its lifetime! Some reach this maturity after 10-12 years others, like the century plant take 25 years. The bloom stalk takes about 3 to 4 months to grow and will mark the end of the plant's life. So do not let someone cut down your agaves final glory before its done, its been waiting its entire life for this! Give it a beautiful ending by letting it die off natur
ally, then have it removed once the flower stalk has either decayed or turned brown. Enjoy the last beauty it has to offer, its firework of an ending.
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