Yews, belonging to the genus Taxus, are evergreen coniferous plants widely used in landscaping. These adaptable plants are prized for their soft, needle-like foliage and their ability to maintain a rich green color throughout the year, providing consistent structure in garden designs. Their dense growth habit and remarkable tolerance for shaping make them popular for formal hedges, intricate topiaries, and privacy screens. Yews exhibit a slow growth rate but are known for their exceptional longevity, often persisting for many decades in a landscape.
Common Yew Species
The English Yew, Taxus baccata, is native to Western Europe, parts of Central and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, and Southwest Asia. This long-lived evergreen grows as a conical tree, reaching 30 to 60 feet tall and spreading 15 to 25 feet wide. It features lustrous, flat, dark green needles up to 1.5 inches long, arranged in two distinct ranks along the stems. The bark of mature English Yews is scaly and reddish-brown. This species is hardy in USDA Zones 6 to 7, thriving in evenly moist, fertile, sandy loams with excellent drainage, and tolerating full shade.
The Japanese Yew, Taxus cuspidata, originates from East Asia, including Japan, Korea, and parts of China and Russia. It can develop into a broad-columnar tree or a multistemmed shrub, reaching 30 to 50 feet tall, though it often remains smaller with pruning in cultivated settings. Its needles are linear, dark green, with a pointed tip, often exhibiting a yellowish tint on their undersides. The Japanese Yew is known for its superior cold hardiness compared to its English counterpart, performing well in USDA Zones 4 to 7. This species adapts to various soil pH levels and grows in full sun to full shade, provided the soil offers good drainage.
The Canadian Yew, Taxus canadensis, is found across central and eastern North America, ranging from Newfoundland south to Virginia and west to Manitoba. This yew grows as a low-spreading evergreen shrub, reaching 2 to 5 feet tall with a spread of 3 to 8 feet. Its flat, narrow needles are dark green on top and paler underneath, sometimes acquiring a reddish-brown hue during colder winter months. Taxus canadensis is the hardiest among common yew species, thriving in USDA Zones 2 to 6. It thrives in partial to deep shade and prefers moist, cool soil, often found as an understory plant in forested environments.
Popular Hybrid Yews and Cultivars
The Anglo-Japanese Yew, Taxus × media, is a hybrid resulting from a cross between the English Yew (Taxus baccata) and the Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata). This hybridization combines the ornamental characteristics of the English yew with the enhanced winter hardiness of the Japanese yew. Taxus × media encompasses a diverse array of cultivars, displaying various forms from spreading shrubs to upright, columnar plants. These hybrids are valued for their adaptability to pruning, making them a popular choice for well-defined hedges, privacy screens, and foundation plantings.
Among upright and columnar cultivars, ‘Hicksii’ (Taxus × media ‘Hicksii’) is a popular selection. This cultivar is known for its dense, narrowly columnar growth habit, making it ideal for vertical accents and privacy hedges. While it can eventually reach 18 to 20 feet tall, it is commonly maintained at a more compact 9 to 12 feet through regular pruning. ‘Hicksii’ features lush, dark green, fern-like foliage and is available in both male and female forms.
‘Capitata’ (Taxus cuspidata ‘Capitata’) is an upright cultivar of the Japanese Yew known for its distinct pyramidal form. This cultivar can reach 25 to 30 feet tall, but it responds well to shearing, allowing gardeners to maintain it at a smaller, more formal size. ‘Capitata’ features glossy, deep green needles and tolerates deep shade, making it suitable for various planting locations.
‘Densiformis’ (Taxus × media ‘Densiformis’) is a popular semi-dwarf cultivar that forms a dense, mounded shape. This spreading yew grows 3 to 4 feet tall and spreads 5 to 7 feet wide, suited for foundation plantings and low hedges. ‘Densiformis’ is a female cultivar, producing characteristic red, berry-like arils in autumn. Its bright green new growth matures into dark green needles.
Key Considerations for Planting Yews
When incorporating yews into a landscape, their inherent toxicity is important to understand. All parts of the yew plant, except the fleshy red aril that surrounds the seed, contain highly poisonous alkaloids known as taxines. This toxicity extends to the needles, bark, seeds, and even dried plant material, posing a risk to humans, pets, and livestock if ingested. Poisoning can manifest with sudden and severe symptoms affecting the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. Deer appear to be unaffected by these toxins, often browsing on yew foliage without ill effects.
The reproductive nature of yew plants is another consideration. Yews are dioecious, meaning individual plants are either exclusively male or exclusively female. Only female yew plants produce the distinctive red, berry-like arils that add visual interest, especially in autumn and winter. For female plants to develop these fruits, a male yew must be situated within reasonable proximity to facilitate wind pollination. Male yew plants produce small, inconspicuous yellowish cones that release pollen in early spring.