Yew

Yew: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Evergreen tree of 10–20 m with a broad, dense crown, often multi-stemmed; in gardens usually a shrub, hedge or topiary.

Needles

1–3 cm, flat, soft and pointed; glossy dark green above, paler yellow-green below without white stripes. Usually in two rows.

Bark

Thin, red-brown and flaking in plates; the trunk is often fluted.

Flower

Male and female trees are separate: in February–March male trees bear small yellow balls full of pollen under the shoots; the female flowers are tiny and green.

Seed

No cones: each seed sits in a red, fleshy cup (aril), ripe in August–October. Only female trees bear them.

Difference from European silver fir

Silver fir has two white stripes under the needle and bears cones.

Pruning: May–June and August–September

Identify by feature: Soft needles · Red berries · Peeling bark

Looks like it, but isn’t

• European silver fir Abies alba: two white stripes under the needle, and cones. Difference from European silver fir

Why grow it?

• The best plant for a crisp hedge or topiary: dense, dark green and handsome all year round.
• Tolerates both sun and deep shade, and grows on almost any well-drained soil.
• The only conifer that regrows from old wood: an overgrown or bare yew can be cut back hard.
• Thrushes and blackbirds eat the red arils; birds nest and shelter in a dense yew hedge.

Yew: where does it grow best?

• Sun, partial shade or deep shade: no other hedging plant tolerates as much shade.
• Any well-drained soil, chalky or acid; no waterlogging, as the roots rot in wet ground.
• As a hedge it suits any garden; a free-standing yew eventually grows 6 m wide or more.
• Don’t plant it along a field with horses, cattle or sheep: they can reach over the fence and nibble the branches.

Light

Sun to shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

15 m tall, 6 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Holly: Another native evergreen for shade, with red berries against the dark green.
• Hydrangea: Large flower heads in summer, lovely in front of a dark yew hedge in partial shade.
• Lesser periwinkle: An evergreen ground cover with blue flowers for the shade at the foot of the hedge.
• English lavender: Silver-grey and purple in front of a dark green hedge in a sunny spot.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Tolerate the shade under this tree: oregon grape, rhododendron, oleaster, japanese skimmia, garden privet, camellia, laurustinus, box-leaved honeysuckle

Best kept away from

• Sun-loving plants get too little light under the dense crown: english lavender, heather, butterfly bush, blackthorn, highbush blueberry, sea buckthorn, japanese rose, broom

Yew: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in September–October or March–April, root-balled or from a pot.
2. For a hedge: 3–4 plants per metre, in a single row on a strip of loosened, weed-free soil.
3. Open up heavy soil first with compost or sand: standing water is its worst enemy.
4. Plant at the same depth as before, firm the soil and water generously.
5. After planting, lightly trim the sides of hedging plants: they will branch more densely.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first two years, including a dry spring; after that it copes.

Feeding

In spring, a little compost or organic fertiliser along a hedge; especially helpful after hard pruning.

Mulch

Keep the base of a young hedge free of grass and cover the soil with leaf mould or wood chips.

Clippings

Clear them up straight away and dispose of them with the green waste, never in a field or near animals.

Tip: There’s no need to grub out a bare or overgrown yew hedge: in March–April, cut one side back almost to the trunk, and the other side the following year. It will regrow from the bare wood.

Yew: when to prune it?

Pruning months: May–June and August–September.

When: Clip hedges and shapes in May–June and/or late August–September. Renovate a neglected yew in March–April.

How:

• One trim a year is enough for an ordinary hedge; crisp shapes are clipped twice.
• Yew is the only conifer that regrows from old wood: you can cut it back hard, preferably spread over two years (one side first, the other side the following year).
• Clip a hedge slightly narrower at the top than at the bottom, so the base also gets light and stays dense.

Caution: Wear gloves and don’t leave clippings lying around.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In August–September, take 10–15 cm cuttings from young side shoots, with a heel of old wood. Insert them in sandy cutting compost in a cold frame; they root slowly, often only after several months.

Sowing

Wearing gloves, remove the seed from the red aril and sow it outdoors in a pot; it germinates slowly, often only after eighteen months.

Yew: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• Shake wet snow off hedges and shapes: under its weight the branches splay apart and leave gaps.

Diseases and pests

• Vine weevil: Small notches in the needles are the work of the adult beetle; the larvae eat the roots, so plants turn brown or die. In April–May or August–September, water nematodes (Heterorhabditis) around the roots.
• Root rot: On wet soil, branches or whole plants turn brown and die (Phytophthora). Only replace dead plants once the drainage has been improved.
• Scale insects: Small brown shells on the shoots and sticky honeydew, sometimes with black sooty mould. Parasitic wasps and ladybirds usually deal with them; cut out badly affected shoots.
• Yew gall midge: An artichoke-shaped bud at the tip of a shoot: a midge larva lives inside. Harmless; cut it off if you don’t like the look of it.

Through the year

• March: A neglected yew can now be cut back hard (March–April); planting is also possible.
• April: Planting season ends; nematodes against vine weevil larvae.
• May: First trim of hedges and shapes (May–June), once birds have finished nesting.
• June: Clipping still possible; water young plants in dry spells.
• August: Second trim in late August; nematodes can be applied again.
• September: Last trim; planting season starts. Take cuttings.
• October: Red arils: thrushes and blackbirds come to eat them.
• December: Shake wet snow off hedges and shapes.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

The best plant for hedges and topiary (balls, blocks, shapes); tolerates shade.

Wood

Very tough and springy: in the Middle Ages the wood of the English longbow.

Also used for

The needles yield a raw material for cancer drugs.

For wildlife

Thrushes eat the red arils and spread the seed.

Caution: Needles, bark and seeds are highly poisonous to people and animals (horses, cows). Keep clippings away from pastures.

Good for wildlife

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• Caution: needles, bark and seed are highly poisonous; only the red flesh is not. Yews can live for more than 1000 years.
• Its very tough, springy wood was the wood of the English longbow in the Middle Ages.
• The needles yield a raw material for cancer drugs.
• Ötzi, the roughly 5,300-year-old iceman found in the Alps, was carrying an unfinished bow of yew wood.
• Unlike most conifers, yew produces no resin: its wood has no resin canals.