Is The Yew Suitable As A High Hedge?

Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:26 pm

Yew is a particularly hardy hedge plant that can be used to create wonderful hedges. Yew hedges are evergreen, hardy and opaque. The deep green appearance of a yew hedge gives your garden a warm and thoroughly sophisticated look. So you can well understand why so many garden owners have taken this conifer to their hearts. Yew is also well suited for topiary. A tight, formal hedge can therefore be well realized with these hedge plants. But is the yew suitable as a tall hedge? We will now go into more detail about the possibilities.

The yew: popular European garden owners.

If you look at all hedge plants, then the yew is a variety that is quite popular among European garden owners. By the way, the yew can also grow quite old. In the Scottish village of Fortingall, there is even a yew tree that scientists estimate to be almost 2000 years old. This, of course, says enough about the power that lies in such a yew. This sturdy conifer can therefore cope with quite a lot. The yew can thrive well on almost any type of soil, although it can’t handle wet soils very well. In addition, the yew is also fairly low maintenance. Garden lovers who can’t or don’t want to put that much time into their gardens should opt for a yew hedge: pruning once a year and fertilizing twice a year should already be enough to keep the hedge in optimal condition.

Yew also has a rather slow growth. Therefore, it grows only with a rapidity of 15 to 20 centimeters per year. So, in this respect, the yew is not a top performer. Due to its relatively slow growth, it is quite sufficient to trim your yew hedge once a year. However, do you prefer rather tight, neatly maintained hedges? Then you can trim your yew hedge twice a year. And if you give your yew hedge a topiary, then it is recommended to trim your hedge even several times a year to help it keep its shape. Due to the slow growth of a yew hedge, you might think that this hedge plant is rather not suitable for forming tall hedges. But this is not true. In fact, the speed of growth of a hedge plant has nothing to do with the final height of a hedge. However, if you prefer a low to medium height hedge, then you should choose a slow-growing variety that will be much easier to keep its shape by pruning.

What height can reach the yew?

The yew, which belongs to the conifers, can reach a considerable height. In fact, in a cemetery in the English village of Tisbury, there is a yew tree that is about 11 meters high. Here, however, it is a single plant. But now we return to the ground of facts: a yew hedge, which is 11 meters high, you will not find anywhere in the near future. Nevertheless, if you prune and care for it well, yew can certainly reach a considerable height. However, it is often recommended that a yew hedge should not grow taller than 2 meters. After all, the higher the hedge becomes, the less good is then the branching at the top of the hedge. This can then result in you having a pretty, compact yew hedge in the garden that becomes increasingly bare and barren towards the top. However, you can easily avoid this by professionally trimming back your yew hedge.

By pruning your yew hedge, you are in fact stimulating the branching of the hedge plant, which is already heavily branched anyway. This way, your hedge will remain nicely opaque on the top side as well. This can even create a yew hedge that is taller than 2 meters. But then always remember that the hedge should be maintained much more often if it is to grow taller and taller. A particularly tall hedge should also get a different fertilizer than a low hedge. Due to its size, a yew hedge then also needs much more nutrients. Therefore, a magnesium deficiency can occur even with conifer varieties of different heights if you are not careful. However, if you provide a tall yew hedge with sufficient magnesium once a year, then that is quite enough. Also pay attention to which fertilizer you want to use in this context. A special fertilizer for hedges is well suited as a basic fertilizer for high Taxus hedges. In fact, this fertilizer is designed to give plants and trees important nutrients and minerals, especially when they grow close together in a hedge. Read more about fertilizing and watering your hedge here.

Cut and care for a high yew hedge

Basic fertilizer for tall yew hedges is best used in the spring. You can do this preferably in the months of March or April. A tall yew hedge is best fertilized twice a year. The second fertilization should then take place once more in late June or early July. In this way, your tall yew hedge will be supplied with important nutrients throughout the year. So the maintenance of a yew hedge becomes more important as it grows taller. But what should you consider when pruning conifers that are too tall?

First, always use clean and sharp garden tools when pruning back a tall yew hedge. When cutting particularly tall hedges, it may be convenient to use electric hedge trimmers. Do you have enough time and a lot of patience? Then, of course, you can just as easily use a hand hedge trimmer. You could then use a ladder or scaffolding if you want to trim the top of your tall yew hedge, but these days telescopic hedge trimmers are also available to buy at specialty stores. These have a long style that allows you to easily reach the top of the hedge from the ground. You can also learn even more about conifer care here.

A high yew hedge: yes or no?

So, as you have already learned, it is quite possible to form a yew hedge to grow taller than 2 meters. However, one disadvantage is that the yew takes quite a long time to reach this height. However, if you regularly prune the yew hedge, then it will always remain well branched. Are you looking for a hedge plant with which you can create a tall, opaque hedge? Then the yew is quite an excellent choice. It will take some time in the beginning, but then later you will also have a wonderful evergreen hedge in your garden that will last a lifetime!