The Different Types of Yews and Their Growth Patterns

Yews are evergreen conifers that look much the same wherever they grow, from wild forests to clipped hedges. What separates one type from another is mostly where it comes from and how it has been bred to grow, not how its needles look.1PubMed. Yew (taxus) species – chemical and morphological variations All of them share a slow, steady growth habit that makes them forgiving garden plants and some of the longest-lived trees on Earth.2Scotland’s Yew Tree Heritage Initiative. Why are Ancient Yew Trees a Special Case for Management?

The Main Types of Yew

There are about 12 natural yew species worldwide, plus 2 recognized hybrids.3Trees, Forests and People. Assessing the global distribution and conservation status of the Taxus genus: An overview The English or common yew is native to Europe, and the Japanese yew to northeast Asia.

North America has three native yews:

Those three are mostly plants of particular wild habitats, and nurseries seldom sell them. A yew clipped into a hedge or beside a front door almost certainly came from a nursery line of English, Japanese, or hybrid stock.

The most common garden yew is the Anglo-Japanese yew, Taxus x media, a cross between English and Japanese yew.7Trees, Forests and People. Assessing the global distribution and conservation status of the Taxus genus: An overview It combines the English yew’s good looks with the Japanese yew’s cold hardiness,8University of Missouri Extension. Yews add beauty and durability to landscapes which is why it is the yew most often sold for northern landscapes.

A species is a wild type that grows naturally in a region. A cultivar is a named garden variety selected for a particular shape or size. Many cultivars can come from one species or hybrid, so the cultivar name usually tells you more about size than the species does.

To work out which yew you have, start with climate. In cold northern regions, a hardy yew is most likely Japanese or Anglo-Japanese. In mild climates, English yew and its forms are common. Nursery tags or old receipts usually name the cultivar, such as ‘Hicksii’ or ‘Densiformis.’

If the tag is gone, a landscaper’s invoice, a garden center’s records, or a neighbor who bought at the same time can sometimes fill in the name. For an inherited yew the honest answer is often “probably an Anglo-Japanese or Japanese cultivar,” not a certain one.

How Fast and How Big Yews Grow

‘Hicksii’ yew grows about 4 to 5 inches a year,9Gardenia. Taxus × media ‘Hicksii’ (Anglo-Japanese Yew) and Anglo-Japanese yews in general are slow growers.10University of Connecticut Plant Database. Taxus x media A small shrub from the nursery therefore takes years to fill its space.

You can estimate how long that will take. Subtract the plant’s current size from the mature size listed for the cultivar, then divide by roughly 4 to 5 inches a year for a ‘Hicksii’-type yew. Growth varies with soil, light, and watering, so treat the result as a range rather than a date.

Final size depends on the named garden variety. Depending on cultivar, Anglo-Japanese yews range from 2 to 20 feet tall.11University of Connecticut Plant Database. Taxus x media ‘Hicksii’ starts narrow and upright and widens with age.12Gardenia. Taxus × media ‘Hicksii’ (Anglo-Japanese Yew) Read the mature size before planting near windows or walkways.

The common mistake is spacing yews by their nursery size. Leave room for the full mature width of the cultivar. Because growth is so slow, mistakes show up only after several years, when the plants are hard to move.

If a yew is already too big for its spot, replacing it with a smaller named garden variety is often less work than a lifetime of shearing. Moving an established yew is hard because the root ball is heavy and the plant recovers slowly, so decide early.

Yew needles adjust to the light they grow in, so yews tolerate both sun and shade.13PubMed. Acclimation of Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) foliage to sun and shade Shade-grown yews tend to look looser and more open, while sun-grown ones look denser. Needles in strong sun can show light stress,14Trees. Light responses of yew (Taxus baccata L.); does size matter? and yellowed or bronzed needles on the sunny side can be one sign of it, though other problems cause similar discoloration.

Water matters too. Yews from wetter places can take longer to recover after a severe drought,15Dendrochronologia. Variation in radial growth sensitivity to drought among genetic groups of common yew (Taxus baccata L.) in central Italy so water yews deeply during long dry spells, especially in their first years.

Shapes and Growth Habits of Garden Yews

Named garden varieties are grouped by habit:

‘Hicksii’ is popular for hedges and topiary.20Gardenia. Taxus × media ‘Hicksii’ (Anglo-Japanese Yew) Columnar yews suit narrow beds and entry corners. Spreading yews suit spaces under windows and low foundations, and creeping yews work as groundcover on slopes.

A hedge needs a dense yew that responds well to shearing, while a specimen yew can be left in its natural shape. Mixing cultivars in one hedge gives an uneven look as the plants mature.

Nursery descriptions usually give both a mature height and a mature width, and the width is what decides whether a yew crowds a path or a neighbor. Words like “upright,” “spreading,” “dwarf,” or “compact” point to the group, which tells you the general form.

Telling Yew Types Apart

The three U.S. native yews are very hard to tell apart by eye, so they are identified mainly by where they grow.21The Morton Arboretum. Conservation Gap Analysis of Native U.S. Yews Needle size varies as much within English yew as between species.22PubMed. Yew (taxus) species – chemical and morphological variations Under magnification, North American yews do show fewer rows of breathing pores on the underside of the needle than European and Asian yews.23Scanning Microscopy. A Scanning Electron Microscopy Study of Taxus Leaves as Related to Taxonomy That difference is a tool for botanists, not something a homeowner can check by eye. Light, the age of the plant, and whether the shoot is vigorous all change how needles look, so needle length doesn’t prove which yew you have.

Start instead with the plant’s location and any planting records. A local extension office can help when you’re unsure.

Why Some Yews Have Red Berries

Yews come as male or female plants, and only females produce bright red seed cones.24Gardenia. Taxus × media ‘Hicksii’ (Anglo-Japanese Yew) The red cup surrounds a single seed and is the only part of the plant that isn’t poisonous. The seed inside is poisonous, so a child or pet that bites through the fruit is at risk. Birds eat the fruit and spread the seeds, which is why seedling yews may sprout in unexpected places.

To tell which you have, look in late summer and fall: a plant with bright red, cup-shaped fruit is female. A plant that never fruits may be male, or it may be a female with no male yew nearby to pollinate it, so absence of fruit alone isn’t proof. In early spring, a male plant may release visible puffs of pollen when a branch is shaken. Never feed yew clippings to horses or livestock. If you don’t want fruit near play areas, choose a male cultivar.

Pruning Yews and How They Regrow

The best time to prune is early spring, before new growth appears, because this gives dormant buds along the stems the most time to grow.25Toronto Master Gardeners. Pruning Hicks Yew Buds on older wood take longer to sprout.26Toronto Master Gardeners. Pruning Hicks Yew

Most conifers, pines for example, don’t sprout new growth from bare wood, so cutting into the brown interior can leave permanent gaps. Yews can sprout from dormant buds on older wood, which is why they take heavy pruning well and are favored for hedges and topiary.

For routine shaping, trim lightly after the spring flush of growth. Keep a hedge slightly wider at the bottom so lower branches get light. Avoid late-summer shearing, which pushes tender growth before winter. Wear gloves and bag the clippings.

An overgrown yew can be renewed by cutting it back into bare wood, and it will resprout. Spread a hard cutback over two or three years, and expect the plant to look bare for a season while new shoots form. Water and mulch it after a hard cut.

A staged renewal works like this. In early spring, cut back one side or one third of the plant hard, leaving the rest intact. The next year or the one after, cut back another section as the first one fills in. The plant always has some foliage to feed itself while it recovers.

How Long Yews Live

Ancient yews develop hollow trunks, cavities, and cracks.27Scotland’s Yew Tree Heritage Initiative. Why are Ancient Yew Trees a Special Case for Management? Roots then grow down inside the hollow trunk and feed on the decaying wood, and over time these inner roots can build new stems within the old shell.28Scotland’s Yew Tree Heritage Initiative. Why are Ancient Yew Trees a Special Case for Management? The new stems inside the old shell can eventually fuse and form what looks like a new trunk. Hollow yews are hard to date, because the oldest wood is gone.29Dendrochronologia. Refined minimum ages for hollow yew-trees based on dendrochronological analysis The tree keeps living on its outer layers, and the cavity is part of how it renews itself, so removing a hollow yew just because it looks decayed is usually unnecessary.