Growing a yew hedge in the garden
Yew hedges are a very popular privacy screen in many gardens. We explain how to plant yews correctly in the following article.
The common yew (Taxus baccata) is a versatile and robust woody plant. It is popular in gardens mainly because of its dense appearance. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about planting yew and using it as a hedge.
Where can you plant yews in the garden?
Yews are hardy in our native areas and quite tolerant with regard to location. For example, they can be planted in both sunny and shady places – in fact, they are considered the most shade-tolerant conifers. In the shade, the yew grows noticeably slower and more sparsely, but still satisfactorily if its other needs are met. Yews even tolerate strong root pressure from larger trees and can hold their own well in the presence of competitors. If you have very poor soil that is heavily compacted, for example, it is worth digging a slightly larger planting hole and mixing the soil in roughly equal parts with a high-quality substrate. This will give the roots of the young yews a good start to rooting. Our Plantura Organic All Purpose Compost is suitable for this purpose, which additionally provides the plants with important nutrients through mainly organic fertiliser until they are established. For the sake of the environment, our soil is peat-free and can be used in a variety of ways, such as cultivating yew in tubs.
- Perfect for all your house, garden & balcony plants
- For strong & healthy plants as well as an active soil life
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Note: Caution is advised, however, due to how poisonous yew trees are, which is why it is better not to plant it near nurseries, schools or animal pastures.
Yews are extremely versatile and, due to their great variability, are not only used as hedges but often also as specimen shrubs or ground covers. Depending on how you prune yew, it can be shaped in numerous ways.
Instructions: planting yew
Yews can be planted either in spring or autumn. Under no circumstances should the young woody plants be placed deeper in the ground than they were in the container in which they were purchased. If you want to achieve as closed a screen as possible, plant the yews about 50 to 100 cm apart. The planting hole should be about one and a half to two times the size of the plant pot containing the saplings. Furthermore, when planting woody plants from pots, it is always worthwhile loosening the root ball so that the roots can spread in the new soil.
Yews that come with a root ball should be freed from the root ball cloth or wire balling only at the root neck because both wire and cloth decompose without leaving any harmful residues in the soil. Until the plants have grown, it is highly important to water the yews generously and regularly. For this purpose, it is useful to create a moat around the plant – or around the entire perimeter of the hedge as the case may be. Mulch the soil under the yews to keep moisture in the subsoil. These points are especially important if you want to use a yew hedge as a privacy screen. As yews do not grow very quickly, it is advisable to ensure that the yews grow well and receive a sufficient supply of nutrients, especially if you want to obtain a closed hedge wall as quickly as possible. Therefore, especially in the first years after planting, it is advantageous to fertilise the young yew trees from time to time.
Tip: It is also advisable to check the root balls for pest larvae before planting, as the thick-mouthed weevil in particular attacks Taxus species and can thus cause feeding damage to the plants.
Can yews be planted in containers?
Yews can be cultivated in tubs or pots. In this case, you will need a planting container suitable for the size of the tree and a substrate that ensures good rooting and a good nutrient supply. It is also best to use smaller yew species and varieties. For example, the Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) or the Japanese dwarf yew (Taxus cuspidata ˈNanaˈ) are better suited for planting in containers than the common yew. In very cold winters, it can happen that planters freeze through completely. To prevent this, it is important to protect the tubs from the cold, for example by placing them against a house wall or wrapping them in fleece. Those who have very little space available can also resort to the ancient Japanese art of bonsai. Since it is essential to prune bonsai properly, yews are a good choice because of their pruning tolerance.
Transplanting yews
If, after some time, you find that the yew you planted should be in a different place, it is also possible to replant the shrub. However, this is only possible up to about three years after planting. The later you transplant the yew, the less likely it is to grow successfully. As the yew distributes its roots deep and widely in the soil, it becomes increasingly difficult to dig up enough fine roots for a sufficient supply of nutrients to the plant as it ages. In general, it is therefore advisable to replant the yew with as large a root ball as possible so that it has a better chance of growing well again. One method that makes transplanting more likely to succeed is to poke the tree once with a spade in the previous year so that more fine roots form near the trunk. As for the timing, the same applies as for planting, so transplanting is also best done in spring or autumn.
