Why you should plant agaves in the corner of your garden, but not too close to the edge

Agaves are beautiful plants that do well even in the terrible heat here in the Phoenix area. I have lots of different varieties, and out in the front I have some variegated ones. They serve two functions, they look great, and they keep people from walking across my yard.

No, I don't have any grass, so I'm not the cranky old guy who shouts "get off my lawn!" but I do have tiny hidden water sprayers, so it's best that people don't walk through the garden, and accidentally kick them. I've done that quite often myself, and I even know where they are! They're hidden for a reason, because I don't want the plumbing to be obvious, but they are very easy to kick accidentally.

I really don't get too many people walking in my front garden, but when someone visits me, and parks in the front, they usually want to cut the corner and walk diagonally across the garden. So I put in extremely sharp plants, that also look extremely sharp, to discourage that, but there's still a LOT of room from the areas where people should be walking, like the sidewalk, or my driveway.

I like to walk around my neighborhood, and I see a lot of gardening mistakes, the worst of which is having a dangerous plant too close to an edge. There are kids walking to school! So I measured well back, and planted. The big rock you see there is a good four feet away from the driveway, and sidewalk. No one walking past my garden is in any danger! But if you cut across it, look out, agaves like this are deadly sharp! Please walk on the sidewalk, or the driveway. You've been warned!