Ponytail Palm Beaucarnea recurvata

It is not a palm, despite the name. Beaucarnea recurvata sits closer to the agaves, and the swollen corky base is a water store evolved for dry country in eastern Mexico. Long strap leaves spill out of the crown and curl at the tips, giving a fountain of fine texture above a solid base, and older plants branch into several heads. It is used as an architectural feature in dry gardens, gravel beds, poolside plantings and large pots, and works better as a single specimen than repeated down a row.

Keeping the base dry

Growth is slow and water needs are low once established, so most of the work is in getting the planting right at the start. Free draining soil or a gritty potting mix is not negotiable. Plant it high, with the top of the swollen base sitting proud of the soil rather than buried, and use coarse gravel rather than a wet compost mulch against it. Let the root zone dry between waterings and keep it out of prolonged frost. The way these die is rot: a heavy mix, a pot without drainage or a saucer left full, and the base goes soft at soil level, which is not recoverable once it starts. In the ground, a raised bed or a slope solves the problem outright. Wind is not an issue and neither is reflected heat off paving, which is why it holds up beside a pool or a driveway where softer plants scorch. Pot grown plants are happy staying tight in their container for years, and a snug pot is much safer than a large one full of unused wet mix.

Ponytail or sago for an architectural pot

Cycas revoluta is the closest thing to it in this batch, another slow, trunked, evergreen plant bought for form rather than flower. The difference is discipline. The cycad is rigid and symmetrical and repeats well in matched pairs at an entry, while the ponytail is irregular, softer in the leaf and looks better standing alone where its base can be seen properly. The cycad is also toxic to dogs, which the ponytail is not. Indoors, Dracaena marginata covers similar dry, low water ground in a slimmer, more vertical shape. Both are worth buying with some age on them, since that is when the trunk character arrives. Larger specimens sit in super advanced trees.

Tidying leaves and feeding sparingly

There is nothing to prune. Brown leaf tips can be trimmed off with scissors, cutting to a point that follows the natural taper of the leaf so the cut does not show, and whole dead leaves are pulled or cut away at the crown. Do not cut the growing point unless you want the plant to branch, which it will often do anyway after damage. Feed sparingly, because one light application of a slow release fertiliser in spring is enough and a heavily fed plant puts on soft floppy leaves and loses the character in the base. Container plants need less than you think.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 15 sizes, from 140mm up to 800L, priced from $16.95 to $2199.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.