Trim a Blue Agave

A striking and tough structural plant, blue agave needs little to thrive here. When trimming them for size and safety, exercise caution; it is a simple chore fraught with danger!! The sap is caustic and the serrated leaves are tipped with strong, sharp needles. In spite that, we love their shape, color and impressive size.

[@CY-co9lu]

Thank you for sharing it!

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

You're welcome!

[@917Stefano]

Good video! Agave and Lantana are two of my favorites.

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

Thanks! Lantana is a tough plant that does well for us. If it's neglected it hangs in there and if it's cared for it goes gangbusters.

[@AJHoeben1]

Great Video. Thanks for providing help.

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

You bet, glad you found it useful!

[@jwilliam1542]

Good video and I learned something. Thank you for putting it together. I learned the hard way about how NOT to trim a blue agave. Let's just say never use a small chain saw even at a low speed because it will throw back significant sap and/or fibrous material and (Murphy's Law) will come in contact with even the smallest patch of exposed bare skin. So, I just finished using a reciprocating saw on my Agave and it worked great because you can adjust the speed, keeping throw back to a minimum. Having done this correctly a few times now, just make sure that any bare skin is covered as much as possible. So, I would recommend long sleeves and pants, long welding or similar gloves, safety glasses, baseball cap or similar, and even a scarf wrapped around your neck covering up to your nose. The long welding gloves mentioned in one of the comments can protect you from the long needles as well as the sap.

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

100% agreed on the reciprocating saw working very well! It's now our preferred method of triming agave. Maybe when there is more trimming needed we'll do a video showing how well it works. Thank you for taking the time to comment!

[@conniesanford2377]

Thank you for sharing. A lot of good info here.

[@russellbrown9655]

Thanks for the video. Hopefully your tips will make my first attempt a successful one at trimming my agave. It's gotten pretty big and has pups too

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

I hope it went ok for you.

[@arboristo4407]

Elbow length welding gloves and a sawsall works amazing ✅🌵

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

I whole heartedly agree with this. A cordless sawzall is my new preferred method.

[@jen-jac]

Great vudeo. Thanks for all tge information

[@jeusgarcia6423]

NICE HEALTHY BLUE, I'VE BEEN IN PROPERTY CLEANUP, WEED ABATEMENT AND TREE SERVICES, GREAT VIDEO MY BROTHER 👍

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

Thanks! Much appreciated!

[@SteveFloresCoach]

I used a well sharpened shovel. Cuts like butter.

[@chillsoundzzdre]

Hi, I was wondering if the leaves of the agave will grow back? My landscape had cut a huge amount without my consent. So was wondering if they will grow back in time? Thanks

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

They don't grow back. The lower leaves remaining will hang lower as new growth occurs from the top middle. It won't be quick. Two years on this plant in the video has leaves down on the ground but the leaves that were cut are still just cut off stubs

[@plantsandartemius]

*Oh my god, what a great agave! Super! I have not seen one! How old is she? Like!*

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

We believe it is getting close to 7 years old though that's going off memory so we're not 100%. Thanks for the question!

[@wingwong398]

Arizona High Desert Gardening hi is this the Americano cheers

[@chodemonsters7140]

You can probably sell the leaves or offer them up , people use them in some cooking recipes.

[@kr2112]

I really appreciate seeing this. Can you please tell me if my very large variegated agave will grow out from the center and fill out? I was in shock this morning when I saw that my maintenance “gardener” had cut off several leaves (mostly on one side) right in the middle and not even at the base! They weren’t in anyone’s way. They were healthy. And he didn’t ask me if I wanted it done. I feel sick over this. Is it completely destroyed or will it grow out from the middle of I cut the damaged ones to their base and also cut others to balance the look of the plant??? Thank you sooooo much!!!

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

Apologies for not responding. It will continue growing from the middle. Not being experienced in such a incident it's hard to say the best course of action. Hopefully you were able to find the answers. I'd be curious to hear what you decided on

[@VJM58]

Would it be wise to cut off the dangerous part of the frond (halfway down?) first and then deal with the row you’re cutting that way?

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

The whole thing is a bit dangerous so go with what makes it most comfortable/ safest for you

[@expatconn7242]

Re plant those get 10 ft across .

[@stumpy7777]

Good security bad if there is a fire

[@user-sw5bq3ek8q]

Common mistakes, we put agaves in the wrong spots. We don't thing it will grow so big and we will have no window anymore ...

[@GS17403]

Is there a technique or practice for trimming the HEIGHT of Agave plants ? I have a few mature plants that I would like to scale back in BOTH height and width. I have done some trimming like you demo here, where I've removed complete stalks around the base, but I have never tried cutting into the length/height of a more central stalk. Also have a couple with bent and cracked stalks - can I cut into a stalk without cutting the entire "branch" off ? - Thanks

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

We haven't and probably wouldn't risk cutting down any of the taller central leaves. We have successfully trimmed down damaged leaves and cut them in to a point so that they still have a bit of the agave look and not a squared off end. Good luck

[@GS17403]

@@ArizonaHighDesertGardening Thanks. I have a couple plants in plastic pots that I am going to experiment on. If I remember, I'll post my results with trimming down the height on some central stalks. The plants in my garden have just grown out of "scale" with the rest the garden. Aesthetically, reducing the height would be more appealing.

[@nemophilist]

@@GS17403 Yes please let us know how it goes!

[@beadybugg]

What I've done was save pups,pulled out mother plants that were to big and replace with a pup. My yard is to small to let them get to big but I love the plant

[@sandrajshutter2205]

I think is a bad location for your agave because what is the point to cut healthy pencas? The beauty of this 8 feet agave is to look full and open but is to close to the window. 🍃

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

Good points. They're very impressive when left to grow. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@stevepasquarella823]

Hey, how old approximately is that plant?

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

We believe it was around 6 years old when the video was filmed. About 4 years in that location with mulch and water on a timer. Thanks for watching!

[@wingwong398]

Arizona High Desert Gardening hi I’ve got Americano agave in a pot , will it grow better in the ground cheers

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

My experience is generally if a plant can survive planted out where you are it does better in the ground than in a pot. This is very general and based on soil pH and quality, temperature moisture etc. being acceptable for the plant.

[@coleventeicher1340]

Why do you put the pups out to dry in shaded area? Can’t they be planted immediately?

[@ArizonaHighDesertGardening]

Our advice is you could plant them only if it's super dry soil, you don't water them in, and it's not going to be too hot and sunny. You want the most end of the pup to callous prior to planting. Its kept in shade so it doesn't cook or totally dry out.