Don’t “Pineapple” Your Desert Spoon

Dasylirion wheeleri (Desert Spoon)This is a Desert Spoon (Dasylirion wheeleri). Some people call it a Sotol. You can call it whatever you like…even call it a pineapple if it makes you happy.  But please don’t make it LOOK like a pineapple as it does here!

Desert Spoon can grow to 8′ tall and 6′ wide.  Because this one doesn’t have adequate room to grow, it’s being hacked into a pineapple to give the other plants room to grow. 

So make sure to allow room for the plant to grow to its mature size. Otherwise, your low-maintenance xeriscape will become a high-maintenance burden.

By the way, Desert Spoon will get brown on the tips and around the basein the summer.  But that doesn’t mean it’s dying.  It’s just using the brown stuff to protect itself.  Desert Spoon does just fine in Phoenix xeriscapes without a lot of fuss. Maybe add a little extra water in the summer to keep it “citified.”

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