English Yew has a reputation for being indestructible, and given fair treatment, there are yew trees planted today that will still be alive when mankind (if we survive) will have escaped the solar system.
At the same time, and like any living organism, english yew can die prematurely, but because it is tough you may be able to save your tree or hedge with swift action. Here are a few reasons why yew dies when it should not.
Dogs and Cats kill Yew Trees and Hedging
Well sort of. Actually it is what comes out of the back end of dogs and cats that kills younger yew trees and hedging. Cats like to excavate holes in pretty much the same place and carefully bury their excrement. It is a bit like topdressing with raw lion dung. Not a good idea and, from the tree’s perspective, slow poisoning.
Dogs are worse, in that where one dog pees, others are sure to follow. And then the first one comes back to mark their marks marking his mark, and then they return…. and yews do not like uric acid on either their roots or leaves.
Yew dies by drowning
English Yew grows just about anywhere – there is a lovely yew hedge by the river Wylie that is flooded whenever it rains. But then the ground drains. The moral of the story is that you can plant a yew hedge in any kind of soil as long as the roots do not sit in water for extended periods of time. Dig a trench in solid clay and fill it with lovely compost and top soil and you have created a death trap for your hedge. The clay does not drain and the trench will fill with water and stay that way. So if you are planting on poorly draining soil either ensure there is drainage, or DO NOT PLANT IN A TRENCH. Clear the ground, and plant bare-rooted stock in slits which you close up firmly when you have finished. There is an excellent planting video on our site which shows the technique.
Salt
The salt that is spread on roads whenever there is a hysterical reaction to the possibility of freezing conditions is bad for all plants. Full stop. If your hedge is in a place where thawing ice, snow or just rain will run off, then think about a wall or fence. Most plants hate salt. If your hedge will not suffer from run off, but gets splashed, go out the day after the thaw and wash it with a hose until it has been in the ground for at least 12 months. Given our climate you probably will not have to do this at all.
Root Rot
Root rot is caused by a number of organisms most notably Phytopthora. Some form of pythopthora exists in all soils ( a bit like cold germs in tube trains…). Just because it is there does not mean your yew plants will die, like most diseases it needs the right conditions to cause damage. It is always best therefore to improve the soil with organic matter to help drainage and to encourage new root growth. Expensive plants like yew are also helped if you use a mycorrhizal additive – it is not cheap but the benefits are considerable.
Honey fungus
As with phytopthora there are a number of forms of Honey Fungus, not all of which are dangerous to plants. However the ones that are kill any tree or woody plant whose defences they penetrate. Yew included although the number of reported deaths of yew cause by honey fungus is very few as it is extremely resistant. Honey fungus travels underground and attacks trees and hedge plants through their root systems. If you cleanly trim off any broken bits of root with secateurs before planting, and if you improve the soil with organic matter, you reduce the chance of a honey fungus attack.
Watch your hedging grow, and enjoy
Hi Julian
I have been reading your advice on the website regarding sick trees, and hoped that you might be able to help me too.
We recently moved house and have inherited a yew hedge comprising approximately 25 plants, which has been trimmed to about 6ft high and 2ft wide. It looks as though the trunks are about 2 – 3 inches in diameter.
Unfortunately, we need to extend our drive to the house and the hedge is in the way. We would love to transplant all of the hedge, but it is probably not going to be possible and we may have dispose of some of the plants. However, what I would really appreciate your help with is:
1. What size roots we might be dealing with here?
2. Do we need to do anything to prepare them for replanting? and
3. What is the best way to transport them, if necessary?
I would be really grateful for any assistance you might be able to give.
Su Handley
Hi Su
Thanks for your enquiry about your yew hedge plants.
If you need to extend your drive in the next 4-6 weeks, then use the mini-digger that will inevitably be needed for the drive and scoop out the yew that have to be moved with as big a rootball as the digger can handle. Yew is tough, and they just might survive.
If the drive extension can wait until next year, then dig a semi circular trench around each yew plant that needs to me moved. Make it at least 30 cms deep and keep it close to the trunk of the plant – about 25-30 cms away. Cleanly cut every yew root in the trench and then fill the trench with good soil. The roots will regenerate over the summer and in the autumn you will be able to lift the plants with much more root attached and so with a better chance of survival.
Yew roots are tough old things. Some will have nearly the same diameter as the trunks of the trees, and they can go very deep.
If you can’t plant them straight away in their intended destination, then put them in a trench and surround the rootballs with good earth, peat or course sawdust. If they are going to survive they can stay there almost indefinitely.
Yew rootballs are very heavy – the size of plant you are talking about will be a two man lift (i.e use a barrow or a mini digger or similar).
A word about value – a well grwon yew hedge plant, as a rootball which is 2 metres tall and well shaped is worth about £100. Don’t throw them away lightly.
Hope this helps
Julian
Hi Julian
I have a large Yew Tree over my drive, this year I have noticed lots of ends of branches (10-15cms) snapped off on the drive. Most of these look like the cut has been diagonal. There is no sign of browning on the tree and this has not happened in previous years.
Do you have any idea what could be doing this to the Yew and why? I have not noticed any unusual birds or animals, the field fares were on the tree over Christmas but have now gone.
Thanks
Hannah
No idea. Sounds like a phantom hedge trimmer!
I now know the culprit, a grey squirrel – he bites off the ends and eats some and drops the rest
We planted a 4m Yew hedge Feb 2010 consisting of 85 trees.
In Sept 2010 we replaced 8 which appeared to be dead. The roots were very dry. The site is next to a farmer’s field and is exposed to the prevailing winds. We put in a drip feed irrigation system and covered the roots with bark mulch.
58 of the trees including the replacements are now ok. 12 appear to be dead closer to the trunk but still green on the outside. 4 are mostly brown throughout and look thin. 11 have green innres but bronzed and brown pathcy outers. Other 2.5m tres planted elsewhere on the site are looking very healthy. Help!
Hi Sid, dryness and competition from weeds are the main killers of new trees, so those first 8 almost certainly died from it.
As for the bronzing, this may take some months to right itself. How tall are the yew plants? The taller they are, the more the wind will push them about and give their roots trouble, which makes the bronzing worse.
Inspect the worst looking plants to see if they need firming back down into the soil and support with a stake.
Thanks Edward, the plants are 4m high. Sounds like the bronzing is not too serious but there are 12 which look dead towards the trunk but still green on the outer branches. How long would you advise leaving them before replacing? I’m aware that we’re at the end of the transplant season & customer is concerned!
You can transplant a young tree anytime of the year – March is just the end of the bareroot planting season, pot-grown Yew are available all year round.
Best thing to do is wait. If their stems are clearly brittle and dead in summer with no new growth at all by August, you can either replace them them then or wait a few weeks for next season.
Hello
I have a problem with my Yew not mentioned by anyone else. The Yew trees are old more than 10 years but kept trimmed, I am in France. They have always been healthy but I have just noticed that one or two have a problem with the old leaves, they have turned black and crumble when rubbed. The new growth is lovely but I am cautious about trimming them. These Yes are used to extremes in weather but there has been a lack of rain throughout the winter and we are now in drought conditions. I do water but only once a fortnight. Your help would be much appreciated.
Please help. I’ve recently planted 40 x 1.75m yew plants to form a hedge. I have just discovered that a number of the plants have Yew scale. Being an amateur at this I haddn’t recognised the tell tale sooty black mold – just thought that they were dirty! What can I do to try and save the hedge please. (should point out that these black plants did not come from yourselves). Thanks!
Hi Julia,
You don’t need to water them so much. Once a month would be fine if there was no rain at all. Your plants are well established now and their roots can pretty much look after themselves.
It sounds to me like those are just dead leaves. They don’t last forever.
As for trimming, how big is the hedge now? Is it full size?
Hi Lisa,
If you have the labour force to do it, go round by hand and scrape off the adults wherever you see them. There’s no need to kill them, they can’t move, but some will have eggs under their shields, so it’s best to collect them in a bag and throw them away afterwards.
That will help, but you need to spray Provado systemic insecticide to get them all. It kills both the adults and the immature scale bugs, which crawl around like normal aphids and are harder to spot.
It won’t be cheap to spray so many plants. You need a windless day and and a good sprayer will help alot – borrow or rent one.
Best,
Ed
Thanks to all for your help but my neighbor figgered out my problem. Seem by Bonny husband gets up in the middle of the night and takes a leak in the yard on my Yews.
The murderous midnight micturition.
Hello,
Having read all the problems, ours doesn’t seem to appear!
A 9 year old yew hedge has suddenly developed two plants where the leaves on one side have a coating of what looks like green alga(?) and then drop. It is happening about half way up a one and half metre high bush on the shady side. We have had dry spring then wet summer and our soil is clay with flints. Would nitrogen rich fertilizer and foliar feed help, or should I look for root problems?
I would be so pleased if you could help
Carole
Hi Carole,
Sorry we can’t help on this one, if you could send me some photos at edward@ashridgetrees.co.uk we might have some idea.
It’s too late for a feed to help those leaves and it does sound as though shade & humdity could be the cause here – has the hedge been sprayed with water sprinklers? Is it underneath a tree?
Best,
Edward
Hi Edward
I’ve been trying to find an answer to a problem similar to Lisa (on May 11th), but I don’t know if my hedge has scale insect. My hedge surronds my front garden and goes down the side of my houst and is about 1.5 metres high. I noticed small white miniscule ‘grains’ or rice on the majority of the leaves as well as almost completely covering the bark. There are a few brown ones on a small % of the leaves. Last year I sprayed the whole hedge with Provado Ultimate bug killer a few times as per the instructions. The white bugs weren’t removed from the leaves but the turned to powder when I scaped them with my finger. However my front hedge lost all it’s leaves in one part and I now think this is dead as it hasn’t recovered this year. The white bugs are still there so it all looks terrible. I check it regularly and now the bugs have come back as they are stain orange when squashed. Is there anything else I can do or use that might get rid of them for good?
Hi Sharon,
Could you send me some photos, please?
edward@ashridgetrees.co.uk
Hi I have a yew tree 20yrs started yellowing leavea can you please help never had this before conditions for tree have not changed thank you.
Hello Julian… I wonder if you can advise me please. I have just cut back a large yew hedge, reducing its height and width considerably. It’s now naked (no green). There are large areas of very dry brittle twigs. I assume these are dead but I’m reluctant to remove them as they give shape to the hedge. Do you think new healthy growth would replace these twigs if I remove them?
Thanks
Jon
Hi Jon
The usual way to reduce the height and width of a yew hedge is to do it in three stages over three years.
In year 1 you cut one side back pretty much to the main trunk in the middle of each yew.
In year 2 you cut the top off to the height you want to reduce the yew hedge to.
In year 3 you cut the other side back as you did side 1 in year 1.
This gives each part of the hedge a change to start to regrow before you chop more off. It also means that your yew hedge is never “not green”.
I am not sure if this is what you have started to do or not. If you have taken all the greenery off, I am afraid you will have set the plants back quite a bit as all plant life, (yew included) needs foliage to breathe, photosynthesise and so create the materials that allow it to grow.
Taxus is as tough as old boots so I doubt you will have killed your yew hedge, but I would advise against taking any more off it until it has a coat of green again. Then give it another year to fully recover and adjust its shape as I have outlined above.
Good Luck
Julian