I didn't want to be the first person to answer since my only experience has been negative. Oh well.

My neighbor had one in the middle of the strip on the right side of his driveway. The strip was twelve feet wide, and the yucca grew into the driveway. He had to lop off branches and it started to look like it was being dismembered. People got their scalps poked when they got out of the passenger's side of the car, because the branches grew up then out. I think this plant is better at the back of a property, where it can grow into its natural shape.
Renee

Much better if you could give it more of a setback. Trunks on the most common Yucca elephantipes tend to lean out at odd angles, and 4 feet is not a whole lot of room. You'd be better off planting the narrower growing Cordyline australis for a similar effect in a tight spot.

Thanks guys for being the voice of reason. I have been stalking every yucca tree I see, and observing the sizes, growth patterns, and yes, sometimes bizzare hack jobs. And, to boot, aren't they impossible to get rid of once established?

I can't think of anywhere else to put it though.

So I am thinking 7 ft. away from the driveway, maybe with coaxing and cajoling it will behave?

How do I train it as it grows? I suspect it will produce a lot of offsets. Do I leave only those I want to trunk up, or will removing the offsets make it grow height much slower?

Thanks!

That's smart- looking at them in other people's yards to see how they behave. If you see one you really like, perhaps you could ask the people who live there how they prune it.

They are a little more expensive to get rid of than the average tree, because the wood gums up the chainsaws and the stump grinders. I would use a hand saw to prune it, otherwise your chainsaw will get crammed full of wet fibrous goop. Takes forever to clean and dulls the chain.

Are you bent on planting it because you have it, or because you love it? If you do not absolutely love it, you may want to consider the work you are setting yourself up for. If you do love it, plant away! You'll enjoy pruning it into a shape you like. Part of the coolness of the yucca is the huge trunk/root thingie at the base that develops over time.

Renee

Thanks Renee, I do love it. But i was considering it to be a easy care tree with occassional pruning.

My neighbors spent the entire weekend a few months ago cutting one down and digging it out. They ended up renting a back hoe. Even a little piece of the trunk weighed an incredible amount.

Another neighbor who originally owned that property planted the thing about 1970.

The best ones I see are planted such that they can grow to enormous size without being cut. Those are quite impressive. The ones that have a trunk or trunks hacked off just don't have the same beauty. There will always be a scar and an odd shape. If you can give it 10 or 15 feet of space on all sides you'd have something eventually. 4' you are going to end up having to hack it.