Is Banana Yucca deer resistant?
Yucca baccata
Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
Not listed by Rutgers NJAES. Rated deer-resistant by El Paso County CSU Extension, whose list is a single category, mapped conservatively to Seldom Severely Damaged.
Toxic to cats and dogs if eaten
About Banana Yucca
Nothing about this one invites a bite: stiff, narrow blades up to thirty inches long, each ending in a spine, held in an open rosette close to the ground. The flower stalk is another matter. Stomach studies have turned up fruit, flowers and stalks in mule deer, so it is the armed foliage they work around rather than the plant as a whole. Site it once. It runs on thick rhizomes that form a net under the soil and it resprouts from basal buds and from fleshy roots only an inch or two down, so a plant put in the wrong place cannot really be dug out — what you leave behind comes back. Soil is rarely why a planting fails; it takes coarse sand through to fine clay across a wide range of pH. Position is. Fruit is a separate business. It is pollinated by the nocturnal pronuba moth and by nothing else, and those moths can sit dormant underground for as long as thirty years, waiting on the right season. No moth, no bananas.
Tolerances and uses
- Evergreen
Similar to Banana Yucca
Other shrubs with the same deer rating.
- Antelope BitterbrushPurshia tridentataSeldom damaged
- Anthony Waterer SpireaSpiraea x bumaldaZones 3–8Seldom damaged
- Apache PlumeFallugia paradoxaZones 6–10Seldom damaged
- Armstrong JuniperJuniperus chinensis 'Armstrongii'Zones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn OliveElaeagnus umbellataZones 4–9Seldom damaged
- Autumn SageSalvia greggiiZones 6–9Seldom damaged
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Every list Banana Yucca belongs to.
Common questions about Banana Yucca
- Is Banana Yucca deer resistant?
- Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- Does Banana Yucca grow in shade?
- No. Banana Yucca wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.
- Is Banana Yucca toxic to dogs or cats?
- Yes. The ASPCA lists Banana Yucca as toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. Site it away from where animals graze, or choose something else if you have a dog that chews.