The fashionable yucca plant is to blame for a spike in gardening-related ear injuries, new research has found.

Over a five-year period 28 patients presented to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne with ear injuries caused by the spikey plant, according to a study published in the UK journal Clinical Otolaryngology.

Ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon Professor Stephen O'Leary, who authored the report, said some of those injuries were very serious.

"It was a bit of a surprise to us," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"We had repeated episodes of people coming in after they were gardening or handling their yucca plant."

He said one in seven of those cases resulted in the patient suffering permanent hearing loss.

Arrow-like leaves pierce inner ear

Yuccas grow natively in arid areas of North and Central America and the Caribbean. ( Wikimedia Commons: Tomas Castelazo )

Native to dry regions of North and Central America and the Caribbean, yucca plants are popular as architectural plants in landscaped gardens.

The leaf of the yucca plant is long and thin with a sharp, pointy end.

"A lot of people are a bit worried about their eyes when they pick up a yucca plant," Professor O'Leary said.

"But they don't really think that if the yucca plant is next to them then those fronds can pass straight down the ear canal like an arrow."

He said the spikey leaves initially perforate the ear drum, but "fortunately for us the ear drum can recover".

"But if they go much further, the angle and orientation of these things heads them straight into the little bones of hearing and into the inner ear itself.

"That's what causes very significant and permanent injury to the hearing."

Professor O'Leary said the inner ear was an "incredibly delicate structure" that was notoriously difficult to treat, and any injury should be seen to quickly by an ENT surgeon.

"ENT surgeons are the people that can actually operate on your ear and patch up that inner ear if it needs to be, and that has to be done soon," he said.

"If it is actually done in time there's a very good chance of stopping that progression to a permanent hearing loss.

"If you feel at all dizzy after you've had an injury to the ear with a yucca plant, that's the red flag that this could be very serious indeed."

Native alternatives available

The native leafless rock wattle is one alternative to the introduced yucca plant. ( Wikimedia Commons: Danielle Lanlois )

Patrick Honan, a horticulturalist with ABC's Gardening Australia, said the yucca's resilience had seen it become "almost ubiquitous" in Australian gardens.

"They can take a lot of drought, a lot of neglect, and they look really evergreen so they're really good for a dry Australian climate," he said.

As an introduced species, that hardiness can become a problem when garden waste is disposed of in bushland areas.

"Before you know it, because yuccas are so resilient, you've got a plantation of yuccas growing."

Mr Honan said people wanting a native alternative should consider Acacia aphylla (leafless rock wattle).

"It has that same really modern strong, bold look," he said, adding that other native yucca alternatives included local species of dianella or lomandra.

He warned gardeners to wear protective clothing, including gloves and a wide-brimmed hat, and to remain aware at all times.

"I know it's very enjoyable and you can get into the groove very quickly, but you can't garden if you're injured."