Taxus
( TACKS - uss )
At-A-Glance Information
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Commonly referred to as Yew, this genus of evergreen shrubs or trees can take sun or shade conditions and needs moderate to regular water. Take care when planting these shrubs in your garden, as both fruit and foliage are poisonous if ingested. These trees are naturally found in understorey or canopy habitats in moist tropical or temperate forested mountain areas. These plants are Conifers, but do not produce cones; instead, they bear inedible berry-like fruit (some species even without male plants nearby). These long-lived plants are great for hedges and screens, and grow at a slow to moderate rate.
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taxus Species and Varietals
The genus Taxus includes 12 species (though this is debated), and is the type genus of the plant family Taxaceae. The ideal growing zones for Yew vary depending on the species grown. For additional information, see the descriptions below. To find your zone, click here: Zone Map.
Taxus baccata (English Yew)
This species can be grown as a tree or shrub, and is best in zones A3, 3-9 and 14-24. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. These plants generally reach 25-40 feet tall and 15-25 feet wide, with a broad, low crown. Needles are dark green and glossy above, whitish beneath. Varieties are more commonly grown than the true species, the most popular of which are listed and described here.
This species can be grown as a tree or shrub, and is best in zones A3, 3-9 and 14-24. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. These plants generally reach 25-40 feet tall and 15-25 feet wide, with a broad, low crown. Needles are dark green and glossy above, whitish beneath. Varieties are more commonly grown than the true species, the most popular of which are listed and described here.
'Adpressa'
Dense growth to 4-5 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide. |
'Aurea'
Broad, pyramidal growth to 25 feet tall and 12 feet wide, with with golden yellow new foliage that matures to green. |
'Fastigiata' ('Stricta') (Irish Yew)
This variety has a columnar growth to 15-30 feet tall and 3-10 feet wide, with larger needles and upright branches. Head back and thin plants that have outgrown their space; old wood will sprout freely. |
'Repandens' (Spreading English Yew)
Spreading branches form a 2-4 foot tall groundcover and will spread to 8-10 feet wide. Great as a foundation planting, and will arch gracefully over walls. |
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Taxus cuspidata (Japanese Yew) This species of Yew is native to Japan, and can be grown as a tree or a shrub in zones A2, A3, 2-6 and 14-17. It can reach 50 feet tall in its natural habitat, but is more commonly seen at 10-25 feet tall and half as wide in gardens. Pinch new growth back to encourage a lower growth habit. Needles are dark green on top, tinged yellow underneath. Varieties include 'Capitata' and 'Nana' (a more compact plant that reaches 3 feet tall and 6 feet wide in about 20 years). |
Taxus x media
This species of Yew grows as a shrub, and is great in zones 2-6 and 14-17, and has many varieties available, including:
This species of Yew grows as a shrub, and is great in zones 2-6 and 14-17, and has many varieties available, including:
'Brownii'
This variety is compact reaching 6-8 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide. Great hedge. |
'Hatfieldii'
This variety reaches 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide in 20 years, and has a columnar or pyramidal habit. |
'Hicksii' (Hick's Yew)
With an upright habit to 10-12 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. |
Caring for and pruning taxus shrubs
Most of the Yew plant is toxic (except, funnily enough, the fruit flesh), so take care when planting to ensure that they will not come into contact with kids or pets. Ensure, as well, that you are purchasing a female plant, not a male one. Male dioecious plants in the genus produce pollen, like many other male plants of various genera, but the pollen from Yews contains a cytotoxin that causes headaches, asthma symptoms, lethargy, aching joints, itching and skin rashes.
Plant Taxus shrubs in partial to full sun; ensure that they are receiving about 4-6 hours of sun each day for the best growth. Extreme afternoon heat can burn foliage, so they do appreciate shade during the warmer hours of the day. Ensure that soil is well-draining, and that it is not strongly alkaline or acidic. They prefer to have soil pH in the range of 6.0 to 6.5. Yew can tolerate a wide range of soil textures, including loam, clay and sandy soils. They are drought-tolerant at maturity, but will need regular water as they are getting established. During prolonged drought periods, provide additional water even to adult trees. Mulch around the base of the tree or shrub, taking care not to actually touch the trunk. This will help retain more soil moisture, suppress weed growth, and also maintain a constant soil temperature.
Yews also are sensitive to drying winds and low temperatures. Provide wind shelter and cover plants with frost cloth during the cooler times of winter. Pruning is simple; these shrubs and trees can take a lot of pruning, and will sprout foliage from bare wood. Yews are commonly used as hedges or topiaries and can be sheared. Pruning is best done at the end of winter or early in springtime before new growth pops out. Remove dead or diseased branches at this time and prune to shape as desired.
Plant Taxus shrubs in partial to full sun; ensure that they are receiving about 4-6 hours of sun each day for the best growth. Extreme afternoon heat can burn foliage, so they do appreciate shade during the warmer hours of the day. Ensure that soil is well-draining, and that it is not strongly alkaline or acidic. They prefer to have soil pH in the range of 6.0 to 6.5. Yew can tolerate a wide range of soil textures, including loam, clay and sandy soils. They are drought-tolerant at maturity, but will need regular water as they are getting established. During prolonged drought periods, provide additional water even to adult trees. Mulch around the base of the tree or shrub, taking care not to actually touch the trunk. This will help retain more soil moisture, suppress weed growth, and also maintain a constant soil temperature.
Yews also are sensitive to drying winds and low temperatures. Provide wind shelter and cover plants with frost cloth during the cooler times of winter. Pruning is simple; these shrubs and trees can take a lot of pruning, and will sprout foliage from bare wood. Yews are commonly used as hedges or topiaries and can be sheared. Pruning is best done at the end of winter or early in springtime before new growth pops out. Remove dead or diseased branches at this time and prune to shape as desired.
Propagation
Take care when working with plants in the Taxus genus, as they have a high toxicity in most of their plant parts. Make sure to dispose of any plant parts safely, and wear gloves while working with plant material.
Taxus can be propagated either by using cuttings or from seed. To ensure that your propagated plant will have the exact same qualities and characteristics as the parent plant, use the cutting method. If you would like to experiment and see what plant you can grow from seed, just keep in mind that it will not necessarily be the same as the parent plant and that seeds can sometimes take up to a few years to germinate. To propagate your shrub, follow the instructions below:
Propagating Taxus by Cutting
Propagating Taxus by Seed
Taxus can be propagated either by using cuttings or from seed. To ensure that your propagated plant will have the exact same qualities and characteristics as the parent plant, use the cutting method. If you would like to experiment and see what plant you can grow from seed, just keep in mind that it will not necessarily be the same as the parent plant and that seeds can sometimes take up to a few years to germinate. To propagate your shrub, follow the instructions below:
Propagating Taxus by Cutting
- Gather your materials. You'll need a clean, sanitized, sharp pair of garden shears, rooting hormone, a pencil, and a 3-inch pot filled with well-draining compost or other organic material. If you don't have any potting medium on hand, you can make some. Just mix together equal parts (by volume) moss peat and horticultural-grade sand or grit sand.
- In late fall when the shrub has healthy foliage and no flowers or fruit, choose the plant that you'd like to propagate. Ensure that this plant has had a good watering the night before, as this will improve the chances your cutting will take root. Cut one or more 9 inch portion(s) of the end of a non-blooming branch and strip the leaves off of the lower half. Make a hole in your planting medium by pushing your pencil into the soil. Dip the end of the stem in rooting hormone, and plant it in your pot. Fill in soil around the cutting to support it, but do not pack it down too much.
- Moisten with water, and ensure that the pot has good drainage. Your pot should be kept in warm, sunny conditions indoors (and not in direct sunlight). Water whenever your soil is dry under the top layer. After about four weeks to a few months have passed, your cutting should be rooted. When you notice new growth on your propagated Abutilon, you'll know you have roots.
- Keep your new plant in an area with bright light (though not direct sunlight) and temperatures between 55 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure that the soil stays moist, but not wet, until the next spring, when you can transplant it to its new home. Ensure that the last frost of the year has occurred before doing this, as it can seriously damage your new shrub.
Propagating Taxus by Seed
- Keep in mind that the plant you get from seed will not necessarily mimic all of the characteristics of the parent plant. To propagate by seed, you will need a paper bag, a pot or tray filled with well-draining compost or other organic material, a spray bottle and a fork. If you don't have any potting medium on hand, you can make some. Just mix together equal parts (by volume) moss peat and horticultural-grade sand or grit sand. You will also, after a few weeks, need individual 3-inch pots for each seedling that grows.
- Harvest your seeds. The seeds are contained inside of cup-shaped, bright red (or yellow in some cultivars) fruits (called arils) produced by female trees from June through September. Cut them off of the plant, carefully placing them in a paper bag. Harvest as many as you can, and bring the bag indoors.
- Carefully cut the fruit open and remove the seed inside. There will be one seed per aril. Clean the seeds and set them aside to dry.
- These seeds need to break dormancy to germinate, and the exact process is still argued over. Some believe that running tap water over the seed for 15 minutes will do the trick, others think that seeds should be kept in sand in a warm (70 degrees Fahrenheit) place for four to five months before sowing, and still others will say to cold-stratify the seeds for a month. These seeds are able to germinate in their natural habitat after about two years of fluctuating temperatures and moistures, so sowing them outdoors and leaving them for two years may also get the job done.
- Water your prepared seed tray or pot filled with soil, and ensure that good drainage is occurring. Place your seeds in your prepared pot or seed tray about a quarter inch to a half-inch under the soil surface. Cover them with soil and water with your spray bottle. Place your tray of seeds in a warm area that receives bright, indirect light. A greenhouse is the most ideal climate, but a planting tray inside a window will do as well. In nature, germination of Taxus seeds usually doesn't occur until the second spring after they are released from the plant. Germination in captivity can take anywhere from one to three years, sometimes more. Once you begin to see seedlings sprout and they are able to be handled, transplant them to their own individual 3-inch pots, filled with the same potting medium as described in Step 1. Loosen the seedlings from the potting medium by digging down with the tines of your fork about an inch and a half, gently working the seedling up until it is out. Then, replant the seedling in its individual pot.
- Keep the seedling's potting medium moist, but not wet, by spraying the soil with your spray bottle. Keep your new plant in an area with bright light (though not direct sunlight) and temperatures between 55 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure that the soil stays moist, but not wet, until the next spring (after the danger of frost has passed), when you can transplant it to its new home.
Problems and Pests
Yew plants are susceptible to issues with the following pests and diseases:
- Vine Weevils
- Spider Mites
- Oleander Scale
- Purple Scale
- Obscure Mealybug
- Root and Crown Rot
- Wood Decay
Gallery
Upright varieties are wonderful evergreens for hiding building faces.
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Yew is used as topiary plants in many gardens.
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Taxus x media is a very popular choice for many gardens.
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Videos
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All about Yews.
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Learn about the toxic nature of these great trees and shrubs.
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A video about Taxus x media 'Hicksii', or Hick's Yew.
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Learn about Taxus x media.
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Resources
The New Sunset Western Garden Book: The Ultimate Gardening Guide (2012) - Page 625, Taxus (Yew)
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