Rootballed Yew, Large Hedge Plants

• Sold as: Rootballed, 80/100cm to 120/150cm — an instant, established hedge section rather than a young whip
• Plants per metre: Single row 3/m; larger rootballs can be spaced up to 50cm apart for a still-dense screen
• Ultimate hedge height: Kept at 1–3m (a tree to around 20m unclipped)
• Growth rate: 20–40cm a year once established — faster than yew's slow-growing reputation suggests
• Evergreen or deciduous: Evergreen conifer
• UK native: Yes — a strong contender for Britain's longest-established native tree
• Thorny: No — but every part except the red fleshy aril around the seed is highly toxic, including dried clippings. Never plant near grazing animals
• Best soil and site: Any well-drained soil, full sun to full shade; the one thing it won't take is waterlogging
• RHS Award of Garden Merit: Yes — 1993, hardiness rating H7 (species)
• Wildlife value: Dense year-round nesting cover; birds eat the red aril and disperse the seed
• Delivered: Rootballed, roughly October to early May — outside the standard 12-month guarantee. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Rootballed yew hedging (Taxus baccata) is the fast route to a mature, dense evergreen boundary — established plants lifted with their full root system intact, rather than young bareroot whips that take years to thicken. It's the same deep green, tight-clipping species as our standard yew hedging, just supplied at a size and with a root system built for immediate impact.

Instant Yew Hedging: A Mature Screen from Day One

Bareroot planting is the cheaper, lower-input route to any hedge, but evergreens like yew transplant poorly as bareroot plants once they reach any real size — the root loss involved in lifting a large bareroot evergreen is too much for it to recover from reliably. Rootballing solves that: the plant is lifted with its root system and surrounding soil intact, so it establishes with far less shock even at 80/100cm or 120/150cm. That's the trade-off in a sentence — pay more, wait less.

Because the guarantee that covers our bareroot hedging depends on plants establishing from a bare root system, it doesn't extend to rootballed stock. That isn't a mark against the product — it's simply a different way of buying a hedge, with the cost of instant size built into the price rather than into a longer wait.

Why Rootball at All, When Yew Grows Faster Than People Expect?

Young bareroot yew is genuinely vigorous — plants can put on a metre of growth in under three years, faster than yew's reputation for slowness would suggest. Rootballed yew exists for the customer who can't or won't wait even that long: a new-build garden that needs privacy immediately, a boundary that's been bare all summer, or simply someone who wants the finished look now rather than in five years. If time isn't the constraint, our standard bareroot yew hedging reaches the same destination for considerably less outlay.

Planting Companions

Rootballed yew is almost always planted alone as a dense, formal, all-year backdrop — a border of climbing roses or bright perennial planting reads far more strongly in front of solid yew than a fence. Within the range, it sits alongside our standard bareroot yew for mixed-size planting on a single job, and pairs editorially with hornbeam or green beech where a deciduous alternative is wanted for part of a boundary. Browse the full evergreen hedging range for other instant options.

Why Buy Your Hedging from Us?

We're one of the UK's largest sellers of bareroot and rootballed hedging, grown under contract by specialist UK growers to our own specification. Stock is lifted to order and held in a purpose-built cold store. Established 1949, and a Which? Gardening Best Plant Supplier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why choose rootballed yew instead of bareroot?

Rootballed yew gives an instant, mature hedge rather than young whips that take several years to thicken — the right choice where privacy is needed straight away. It costs more than bareroot for the same reason.

Is rootballed yew covered by the 12-month guarantee?

No — the guarantee applies to bareroot hedging and winter-delivered deciduous potted plants. Rootballed evergreens, including this yew, sit outside it.

Is yew poisonous to dogs, horses or children?

Yes — every part except the soft red flesh around the seed is highly toxic, including dried clippings from a trim. Never plant near grazing livestock, and keep dogs and children away from cuttings.

When is rootballed yew delivered?

Roughly October to early May — a longer window than bareroot planting, since a rootballed plant carries its own soil and root system rather than depending on full winter dormancy.

Can I cut an established yew hedge back hard if it gets too big?

Yes — uniquely among common conifers, yew regrows reliably from old wood, so even a large rootballed hedge can be hard-renovated in early spring if it eventually needs reducing.

How far apart should I space rootballed yew plants?

3 plants per metre for a standard dense screen; larger rootballs can be spaced up to 50cm apart and will still knit together into a solid hedge.