For sansevierias water + cool = death. sans leaves look wonderful when well tended and in bright shade..but not when the leaves get ragged or nicked or bitten or spotted,etc. Try these as a house plant first. Use Very light soil mix and don't water until dry. But if you are in zone 8 or higher, your winter will not kill the roots of some sans. Many varieties can't take it colder than 55*, however.
Johanna

Some Sansevieria will survive with the right conditions. (using hard leaf desert varities) Are you going to leave them in their pot? How deep will your mix go if you are planting them in the new mix. You better be in zone 10 or don't chance it. I live in Los Angeles zone 10 in a hot dry valley, temps went down to 19F in some areas for five nights. Thank goodness we had less than 4" of rain last year. The Huntington gardens lost over a million bucks worth of plants. 22F for 5 nights and dry weather. Those common plants are Tropical varieties and grow fast so they are cheap. They cannot take our summer morning sun, they will bleach. Do you have an asphalt drive way? if so dont't plant, they can even crack ceramic pots and will be able to push up the driveway. Typing with one hand, Norma

I was originally planning to put the plants directly in the ground, because I though that would be easiest. I live near Glendale, so we got some of very cold weather last year - though not as bad as just a little further east like the Huntington Gardens. I also have a concrete driveway adjacent to this area, so it sounds like Sanseviera have the potential to do some real damage.

I originally thought of using the common Sansevieria because they have an upright clean almost geometric shape. We have a 60's modern house and though they would work well for the area we were thinking of planting. I had also seen them used in and around number of modern houses quite effectively. But now that I think of it, the the Sans were almost always in large planters.

I know this might not be the right forum, but does anyone have any suggestions for a clean shaped upright plant, that might not cause as many potential problems as the Sans? I am preferrably looking for plants with low water requirements and are not spiky like agave. Thanks.

Naveen

Hi! I just stumbled upon this and realized it was from over 12 years ago! So, did you end up planting them? If so, how are they doing!?

Coral, Don't think they post here anymore. Some here puts there's in the ground but only summer time. I don't. Too much bug problem. Different if I lived in zone 10.