Yew Care Guide - Caring for Yew Tree Topiary

How to Care for Yew (Taxus baccata)

We would like your yew plants (Taxus baccata) to be happy and healthy and last for years to come.

On this page you will find our care advice specifically for yew that will let you know what your plant needs.

We have also included our recommended products, products that we use ourselves, that will help you keep your plant looking at its very best.

 

 

Taxus baccata Care Instructions

Common name	Common or English Yew
Latin name	Taxus Baccata.
Description	Evergreen trees or shrubs of rounded habit, with narrow and dense, leathery linear leaves and, on female plants, conspicuous fleshy red arils surrounding the solitary seeds.
Height / Spread	Ultimate height: 15m. Ultimate spread: 12m. Time to ultimate height: 20-50 years.
Pruning	No regular pruning necessary, but can be trimmed and shaped in early summer as the new growth fades from bright green to dark green. Yew's often second flush of growth in mid-season. To keep their neat appearance, they can also be pruned again in mid-to late August.
Pests	May be attacked by tortrix moth, vine weevil, gall mites and scale insects.
Diseases	May be subject to phytophthora root diseases.
Toxicity	Most parts, especially the seeds, are highly toxic by ingestion.
Soil	Acid, alkaline or neutral. Well-drained. Chalk, light clay, loam or sand.
Aspect	All aspects. Sun, shade or partial shade. Well drained soil. Exposed or sheltered.
Hardy	Yes.
Evergreen / Deciduous	Evergreen.
Suggested uses	Hedging / screens or low maintenance.

Yew Pests

Tortrix Moth Caterpillars

What is it?

Tortrix moth caterpillars are small green caterpillars at the larvae stage of the tortrix moth family. There are nearly 400 species in the UK but only two feed on plants and cause problems in gardens and greenhouses.

Symptoms

The caterpillars roll themselves into leaves creating a shelter by binding them with silky threads and feeding within them. This causes damage to the leaves causing them to dry up and turn brown.

Treatment

Non pesticidal controls include squeezing the leaves of light populations to crush the sheltering caterpillars and pupae and encourage natural predators such as birds, wasps and ground beetles. Pheromone traps are another natural alternative, an open sided box with a pheromone releasing pellet on a sticky base enticing and trapping the male and reducing the mating success of the females. Pesticide sprays are available for control, organic sprays with natural pyrethrum help to control but will require reapplication due to their short persistence.

Vine Weevil (larvae) (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)

What are they?

Vine weevil is a beetle that attacks a wide range of plants and is a devastating plant pest, but it is the grub or larvae that cause the damage. They hatch from eggs laid in the plant's roots into 10mm long 'C' shaped creamy white colour grubs with brown heads. They live in the soil and eat through the roots.

Symptoms

Adults are dusty black flightless beetles, all are female and can lay up to 1000 eggs in the summer season where they become grubs in the spring the following year. The beetles eat mainly at night nibbling away at the edges of plant leaves and while unsightly, they are not life threatening to the plant.

The grub causes the most damage, eating the roots and causing an otherwise healthy looking plant to wilt and die.

Control

A natural control of the grubs is the use of the microscopic nematode Steinernem kraussei, a tiny parasitic eel worm naturally found in British soils. These are best applied during the spring when grubs are most present or late summer when the ground is still warm enough for the nematodes to be effective. They work by invading the body of the grub and releasing a bacteria which kills it within 48 hours. The nematodes reproduce inside the grub which decomposes releasing the nematode into the soil to infect more grubs.

A chemical control using the systemic neonicotinoid insecticide acetamiprid is a liquid drench and applied to the soil of container grown plants, it is not to be used on plants growing in the ground.

Gall Mites

What are they?

Gall mites or eriophyid mites are microscopic cigar shaped animals usually only seen through a microscope. Their existence is observed in unusual growths appearing on plants caused by their feeding habits. They suck sap while secreting chemicals into plant tissue altering normal plant cells and causing a range of growth forms. These grow to produce the gall which the mites continue to feed on.

Symptoms

There are many different species of gall mite and each causes a distinct set of symptoms used to identify the mite. The yew big bud mite (Cecidophyopsis psilaspis) causes enlarged rounded buds that are unable to open. They can also lead to distorted or unusually long shoot extensions.

Control

Gall mites do not damage the health of the plant so control is not necessary and should be tolerated.

Yew Scale

What are they?

Scale insects are sap sucking insects that suck the sap from a wide variety of plants. Yew scale lives mainly on the leaves and stems of a yew. It is similar in appearance to brown scale, brown in colour, oval convex shell type insects around 3-6mm long.

Symptoms

A sticky honeydew is excreted by the insects as they feed on the sap. This in turn creates a black sooty mould. They are common and only heavy infestations may affect plant growth and defoliation.

Treatment

Light infestations cause little damage and are normal for a healthy yew. Introducing natural predators such as ladybirds and birds will prey on and eat scale insects and their young larvae.

Organic sprays, fatty acids, and plant oils can give good control but will require reapplication as they have a short persistence. Additionally these products are unlikely to affect larger insects and predators.

Phytophthora Root

What is it?

Phytophthora Root Rot is a soil borne pathogen that infects trees, woody plants and sometimes vegetables. Sometimes called water mould it spreads through infected water and often indistinguishable from signs of water-logging. It penetrates root systems, causing rot which denies the plant of necessary nutrients.

Symptoms

Phytophthora causes a weakness and slow collapse in affected plants. Most plants appear to be drought stressed despite adequate watering, wilting and dying during the first warm spell after infection. Some symptoms are seen as a scattered browning from the centre of the tree and out towards its branches although this is found mainly in conifers.

Treatment

The best treatment of affected plants is remove and destroy making sure to disinfect tools and containers. Replacement of the top soil and ensuring proper drainage will enable you to replant with less susceptible strains.

However, similar to Verticillium Wilt, some plants can be saved with proper control. Removal of the soil around the base all the way to the main roots allowing them to dry completely will slow the spread of Phytophthora.

 

Further Reading

The RHS website has further information on how to grow yew: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/yew/growing-guide