Question
QUESTION: hi maureen! i just bought an agave for a particular location. it is in a plastic pot from nursery, measuring 16" wide by 12" deep. i started digging a hole 18" wide, intending to go 14" deep, but when i hit 9" deep, i encountered a huge boulder. cannot dig it out, but can dig around 2 of the ends. i am thinking that this may work for the roots to go where they can, however, i would need to cut about 3-4" off the bottom of the root ball. is it okay to do this? please let me know what you would advise. thank you so very much! susan

ANSWER: Dear Susan,

The plant shouldn't be planted any deeper than the pot it comes in, so 12" would have been fine.  What I'd do is gently separate the roots so they lie around the boulder, making sure there's plenty of room for growth on either side and with  some soil just below the plant. Rather than cut off the root ball, unless it's root bound, I'd try that.  If you do have to cut some of the root ball off, give the roots a couple of days to seal off before you plant.

I think it might work.  Agaves are pretty hardy.

Good luck,
Maureen

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QUESTION: thanks maureen! more agave questions: it is pretty root bound. i can dig a deeper hole farther back in the area, but this location will provide it with less hrs of sun. the original area gets about 5 1/2 hrs; the second gets about 4. does this matter? i appreciate your help so very much! thank you! susan

Answer
It's really up to you.   They love sun and their roots will spread out so you'd probably be OK with the boulder.  Make sure the roots are untangled and unwrapped around each other and spread them out.  Neither condition is ideal, but I think that as long as there's enough soil for it to spread it's  roots it should be OK.  No matter where you plant  it the roots have to be loosened or the plant won't do well.

Best of luck,
Maureen