Yew has a reputation for being indestructible, and given fair treatment, it almost is!

At the same time, Taxus baccata, like any living organism and can die prematurely. Because it is so 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.

The most important thing to know about bronze leaves on Yew

• If the bronzing begins at the leaf tips, or if new leaves emerge bronze, it's almost certainly nothing to worry about.
• If the bronzing beings at the base of the leaves, or if the whole plant turns bronze quickly, it might be root rot or honey fungus, which are deadly. But it might also be nothing to worry about!

Why are my yews' leaves turning brown / bronze?

Yew bronzing is one of the most common afflictions, especially noticeable on new hedges, when individual plants can go bronze and contrast starkly with their neighbours.

In general, bronzing passes, and is nothing to worry about if the bronzing begins at the tips of the leaves.

Yew hedge plants are enormously tough and recover even when they look dead and gone.
Always leave them alone until you are sure they are dead, and then dig one up first to make sure there is no white root showing as a sign of life.

Transplant shock

This is a fact of life when transplanting anything, and evergreens show it in their leaf colour. Rarely, they drop all their leaves and regrow them.

New Growth Naturally Starting Off Bronze

Young soft yew growth is very often a light bronze in colour, and greens up as it hardens off.
This might be due to stress, but it also happens naturally to plants in peak condition.

Windburn

Yew's leaves can dry out in cold winds, and sometimes due to other climatic extremes like heavy frosts, hot summers. The key is a sudden, as opposed to gradual, change in the weather.

Leave them alone and they will regain their colour. The roots cannot pump enough water to the foliage to keep it green. Too much water out, not enough in.

Root bound plants with circling roots

Never an issue with yew planted bareroot, this can happen when container grown yew is planted out. It's usually because the plants were potbound, and sometimes because the ground into which they were planted was not dug, and the planting holes were too small.

Gently dig up a plant: if the rootball is still pot-shaped, you know the problem.
Tease out the roots, cut them if necessary, enlarge the hole, mix in a bit of compost with the surrounding soil and replant.

Dogs and Cats kill Yew

Well, what comes out of their furry back ends harms younger plants. Cats like to excavate holes in the same place area and bury their "raw lion dung topdressing", which from the tree's perspective is slow poisoning.

Dogs are potentially worse, in that where one marks a spot, others seek to follow. Then, according to tradition, the first one comes back to mark their marks with his mark, and yews do not like daily uric acid nitrogen fertiliser on them.

A cheap solution to this is to pile dead bramble or other thorny plant cuttings along the hedgerow for its first few years.

Phytopthera Root Rot: Yew Dies by Drowning

If the plants have root rot, which is fatal if nothing is done, the bronzing starts from the base of the leaf, where it's attached to the stem.

English Yew grows just about anywhere: there is a lovely hedge by the River Wylye that is flooded whenever it rains for half the year.
But then the ground drains.

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.
If you dig a trench in solid clay and fill it with lovely compost and topsoil, you have created a death trap for your hedge.
The clay does not drain, so the trench will fill with water and the soil mixture you made inside the hole will be sodden wet.

If you are on poorly drained soil, it's best to avoid planting Yew in trenches. Clear the ground, and plant 20/40cm tall bare-rooted Yew in slits.

Root rot is caused by a number of organisms, most notably Phytophthora.
Some form of phytophthora exists in all soils.
Just because it is there does not mean your yew plants will die, like most diseases it needs the right conditions to cause damage.

Salt

The salt that is spread on roads in freezing conditions is bad for all plants. Even plants that tolerate salty coastal winds don't like salt in the quantities that can collect from direct run-off in some places at this time of year.

• If salty water from the road pools at the base of your yew hedge, it might die.
• If your mature Yew hedge only gets splashed with road salt, it should be fine.
• If your new yew hedge gets splashed with road salt, go out the day after the thaw and wash it with a hose if there is no rain. Do this for the first 2 years while it establishes. Given our climate, you probably won't have to bother!

Honey Fungus

Honey Fungus will kill any woody plant it gets into, yew included, but in yew's case it's extremely rare.

Watch your hedging grow, and enjoy