Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Elephant Cactus
Pachycereus pringlei
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Supplied in 400mmtypically 1.5 to 2.5m tall on delivery
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosGetting it in: this size needs about 900mm of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Elephant Cactus - Pachycereus pringlei
The cardon of Baja California, Pachycereus pringlei, is the heaviest and among the tallest of all cacti, building thick blue green ribbed columns that branch upward into a candelabra as the plant matures. In an Australian garden it functions as a piece of permanent vertical sculpture: no seasonal change, no leaf litter, no irrigation and no pruning. It is slow, which means the plant you install is close to the plant you will be looking at for years, and it demands only two things, full sun and drainage that never lets the base sit wet.
Why Elephant Cactus
Column Form: Thick ribbed blue green columns with a soft grey bloom, branching into a candelabra as the plant ages.
Permanence: A fixed silhouette that reads the same in every season and every year, which suits architectural planting.
Water Use: Essentially nil once established. Overwatering, particularly in winter, is the main cause of failure.
Frost Limit: Tolerates light frost only. Prolonged cold or cold combined with wet will scar and rot the columns.
Weight and Footing: A mature plant is extremely heavy, so it needs firm, stable ground and a solid footing rather than loose fill.
Ideal Applications
Arid Style Courtyard: The centrepiece of a gravel and boulder courtyard with agaves and aloes at its feet.
Architectural Feature: Set against a rendered or masonry wall and uplit, it works as a piece of built form.
Sheltered Terrace Planter: Suited to a large, deep, sharply drained container under eaves where winter rain is limited.
Low Water Streetscape: Appropriate in hot dry inland gardens where irrigation is not available.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): Not a screening plant. Grouped for effect, 1.5 to 2m apart.
Spacing (feature/avenue): 2 to 3m, with clear access all round for maintenance.
Best Planting Season: Spring to early autumn, into warm dry soil.
Soil & Drainage: Gritty, mineral, sharply drained. A raised bed or mound is strongly preferred, and irrigation should be off completely through winter.
Establishment Care: Water only once a month through the first warm season, and not at all in cold weather. Use a gravel or coarse sand surface dressing rather than organic mulch, and keep everything clear of the base so the collar stays dry.
Plant Details
Height: 2 to 5m over decades in Australian gardens, far taller over a very long life in habitat
Width: 1 to 2.5m once branching begins
Growth Rate: Slow
Foliage: Evergreen succulent, leafless
Light: Full sun
Native to: North west Mexico, in Baja California and Sonora
Flower Colour: White, opening at night in spring on mature plants
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







