English Yew
(Taxus baccata)

The English Yew hedge plant is an evergreen species with an attractive, stylish appearance. The plant expresses bold green foliage in spring, following with small red fruits in the Autumn season- which look very pretty in appearance, and the birds love to enjoy, but are harmful to humans, livestock, and animals.

Sitting as a true British classic, the Yew is the most popular and well-known conifer hedge, as it is greatly admired for its ease of maintenance and year-in, year-out interest. The plant is also perfect for creating eye catching topiary shapes, as the needle-like and compact foliage is very easy to trim, meaning you can easily get highly creative with the shapes you trim.

The King of Hedges can be seen as an excellent boundary hedge for any size of garden, as it grows at an average rate of around 30-40cm per year (being easy to maintain at 1-5m). Once the Yew has reached your desired height, it can be incredibly easy to maintain. As the plant can get so high, it can be exceptionally good as acting as a barrier to noise and wind, making it ideal for urban areas.

During the first few seasons of growth, the plant will need a lot of water to be its best and healthiest version of itself, however it is very important to ensure it does not become waterlogged. Apart from this, the English Yew is a hardy plant that is very easy to grow and maintain, and can easily adapt to many types of soil, particularly alkaline. It can be perfect if you are limited in the availability of sunlight in your garden (it is great for any shade sites) and just right if you are being faced with some tricky positions.

• Growth Rate: Slow (10-20cm per year)
• Ideal Height: 2.5m + High
• Soil type: Normal
• Exposure: Exposed, inland
• Aspect: Sun, Full shade
• Evergreen foliage? Yes

The general hedge trimming for the English Yew should only be done twice a year- in early June, and then again in late September. It is also very important to ensure you prune at the right time to guarantee you do not remove any new growing shoots.

When should I plant English Yew hedging?

The best time to plant your English Yew is during autumn or spring.

How far apart do you plant English Yew plants?

Depending on what size your plant is, ensure to space the plants around 60cm apart. For plants as small as 40cm, we do recommend at least 3 plants per metre. As Yew hedging is also quite formal, you will need to place the plants in straight lines, and the spacing must be even.

How to plant your English Yew:

The planting hole must be twice the width and depth of the tree's delivery container or root mass. Ensure the sides of the hole are straight and the bottom of the hole/trench is nice and level.

Remove the Yew from the container/packaging, and crumble away any excess soil that is surrounding the roots. Pop it carefully into the hole and make sure the roots are nice and spread out.̴Ì?

Refill the hole with soil (neutral soil), and water the base of the tree well until the soil feels quite moist. Ensure the plant is moderately moist for the first few months of planting to ensure the Yew can establish well and effectively.

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