How To Grow And Care For A Dragon Tree

This article has been checked for horticultural accuracy by Oliver Parsons.

Dragon tree (Dracaena marginata) is the perfect house plant for beginners as it doesn’t need a huge amount of maintenance to remain healthy. It thrives in low light levels and stores water in its trunk, meaning it can tolerate a bit of neglect on the watering front. It makes an attractive feature plant, with tall elegant stems and thin, evergreen arching leaves with red edges. Dragon tree is good for you, too – it was tested as part of Nasa’s clean air study, and found to help remove cancer-causing pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene from the air.

Native to Madagascar, in its native habitat it produces small white flowers in spring, but it’s unlikely to do so indoors.

Dragon tree is toxic to pets, so avoid growing it if you have cats or dogs – cats are particularly prone to chewing on the leaves.

Grow your dragon tree in a draught-free spot that gets bright, indirect light. Water when the top half of the compost is dry.

Dragon trees do best in bright, indirect light, with average temperatures between 18-24ºC, but no lower than 15ºC. Keep out of direct sun as this will scorch the leaves.

You can keep your dragon tree in the pot you buy it in and simply place this into a decorative pot. When it comes to repotting your plant, use a free draining peat-free potting compost rather than multi-purpose compost. Dragon trees are slow growing, reaching their mature height after 8-10 years, so they will need repotting only every three to four years.

Avoid overwatering dragon trees. Wait until the compost is dry before