Yew Hedging
30th March, 2022
Yew hedges are renowned for their beauty, and are often found in the finest historic gardens of Britain. Made from the native conifer Yew, they are also suitable for average sized residential gardens. Kept well pruned, they make an attractive, dense, robust, bushy hedge.
Plant between October and March
Once the young plants are in a straight line, only prune the sides, keep the tops of the plants, and do not prune so they are in a flat line. This will maximise the annual plant growth (about 30cm a year). Once at the height you want the hedge you can then remove the tips, so you have a traditional flat top hedge.
Trimming Yew hedges will make them dense and bushy. You can trim at most times of the year without a problem, just not on the coldest of days.
For any major changes to the hedge, prune in winter when the Yew is semi-dormant. Also, do one side only, and leave the other side for the following year.
Unlike some conifers, Yew will sprout new growth on old wood, so even if severely pruned, the hedge will grow new leaves on the exposed old woody stems. (This might take a couple of years.)
If a Yew hedge has been left to grow, to rejuvinate it, prune the long stems right back, to encourage new bushy, dense growth.
A robust native conifer, it will tolerate all types of soil and weather conditions, but does not do well in water logged ground with poor drainage.
Yew can last for centuries.
View the video below to see a fine example of a well pruned, mature Yew hedge, in fantastic condition.
Buy Yew hedging from Thompson and Morgan HERE