Yew (lat. Taxus) is a garden ornamental crop of the Yew family. It can be a tree or a shrub, depending on whether it belongs to one of eight species. Several varieties of conifers, also called yews, are found in Europe and Asia, one in North Africa. The most frost-resistant ones grow in the Far East and Norway. Gradually, wild species of yew are disappearing, and cultivation by gardeners is increasing, since it requires minimal care and fits well into the landscape.
Description of the yew tree
Yew has dense branches with dark green soft needles, forming a round or cylindrical crown consisting of several peaks. Shrub species grow no more than 10 m in height, and trees 20 m or more. The red-brown tree trunk, about 4 m thick, is covered with small scales. On female plants, scarlet berries 5-8 mm in diameter ripen, beautifully diluting the thick greenery, which makes male bushes with single round cones less popular.
Any part of the perennial contains toxic substances that are widely used for medical purposes, which is why yew is protected by government agencies for environmental protection.
Slow-growing yew has strong and pest-resistant wood. Thanks to its density and resistance to rot, the tree is unpretentious to its growing areas and long absence of sun. Previously, furniture was made from yew and log houses were built for houses.
Yew
Yew tree in St Clement's churchyard. O. Jersey (Channel Islands)
Yew (Latin Taxus, English Yew) is a genus of plants of the Yew family (Taxaceae). Species of the genus are slow-growing trees or shrubs with a height of 1 to 10 m. The trunk diameter can reach 4 m. Yew wood has been used for many centuries to make bows and spears.
Species of the genus Yew
According to The Plant List for 2013, the genus Yew consists of nine species:
- Taxus baccata typus – Yew berry, or Yew European
- Taxus brevifolia – Short-leaved yew, or Pacific yew
- Taxus canadensis – Canadian yew
- Taxus cuspidata – Pointed yew, or Far Eastern yew
- Taxus floridana – Florida yew
- Taxus fuana
- Taxus globosa – Ball yew, or Mexican yew
- Taxus sumatrana – Sumatran yew
- Taxus wallichiana – Yew Wallichiana
Natural hybrids
- Taxus ×hunnewelliana [= Taxus canadensis × Taxus cuspidata]
- Taxus ×media – Medium yew [= Taxus baccata × Taxus cuspidata]
Wood
The wood is strong, hard, elastic, heavy, does not rot, is valued for its beauty and color (yellow-red or brownish-red, changing to purple-crimson in water), darkens over time and becomes similar to ebony. It is used in construction, carpentry and turning, for finishing furniture and musical instruments, in the form of plywood.
Yew berry, which originally occupied a very large area, was almost completely exterminated by humans because of its durable and almost “eternal” wood, which has strong bactericidal properties - it kills even those microorganisms that are in the air. A house in which at least the ceiling beams are made of yew is reliably protected from pathogenic infection, which was extremely valuable during mass epidemics.
Due to the combination of “vitality” and viscosity of wood, yew turned out to be one of the best materials for making bows. For example, medieval English longbows were made from yew, which were considered the main weapon with which the British won victories in the Hundred Years' War.
The use of yew was not limited to making bows.
Along with various household items such as weaving shuttles, boxes, buckets, combs and axes, moisture-resistant yew wood was used for the so-called sole beams, which were laid directly on the stone foundations of houses and were not subject to significant damage due to exposure to moisture. This wood was also used for barrels and water pipes. Until the 20th century, whip handles were made from this elastic wood. Description of some species of the genus Yew, their mechanical properties and technical characteristics
| Name | Other names | Botanical name | Distribution (region, country) | Tree dimensions (m) | Density (kg/m³) | Module | Collapsing Strength (Mpa) | Drying shrinkage (%) | Janka hardness | |||||
| height | dia. trunk | rupture (MPa) | elasticity (GPa) | radial | tangential | volumetric | kN | English pounds / lb f | ||||||
| 1. Yew berry typus | European yew | Taxus baccata | Western, Central and Southern Europe; northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia | 10–20 | 1–1,5 | 675 | – | 9,1 | – | 3 | 5,2 | 8,2 | 6,76 | 1 520 |
| 2. Short-leaved yew | Pacific yew | Taxus brevifolia | Northwest North America (Pacific Coast) | 10–15 | 0,3–0,6 | 705 | 104,8 | 9,31 | 55,9 | 4 | 5,4 | 9,7 | 7,12 | 1 600 |
Types and varieties of yew
| View | Crown | Features / Variety | Height, m |
| Berry | Cylindrical, ovoid, sometimes multivertex. | It is found in the forests of mountainous Caucasian, Asian and European areas. Dense needles, double-rowed on the lateral branches and spiral on the upper branches. Deep green in color, glossy on the front and velvety yellow on the back. The red trunk of the tree is layered, uneven, with grayish spots.
| 1,7-2,7 |
| Canadian | Pyramidal. | A frost-resistant, recumbent shrub that grows in the northern regions of America. The branches growing upward are covered with thick pale curved needles.
| 1-2 |
| Pointed | Oval, wide, loose. | Grows in the Far East and Japan. The sickle-shaped sparse needles are dark and pale green underneath. The stems, yellow at the top, turn brown downwards. The tree's berries are pink in color. Shrub species up to 1.5 m.
| 0,7-2 |
| Shortleaf | Wide, pin-shaped. | A species of tree from North America with drooping branches growing perpendicular to the trunk. Double-row yellowish needles 20 mm long. The fruits are bright red. Shrub form up to 5 m high. | 1,5-2,5 |
| Average | Round, lush. | The needles are two-row, 28 mm long, with a clear median vein. The ascending branches are olive, reddish at the ends. Frost-resistant.
| 5 |
General information, places of growth
Yew (Taxus) - belongs to the genus of coniferous evergreen trees and shrubs of the yew family. About 10 species are common in Eurasia and North America. Two species grow in Russia, of which the most famous is the yew, or common yew. This is one of the longest-living plants (you can often find trees aged 1500 years, some live up to 3000-4000 years). Its height is 10-30m.
The seeds, thanks to the bright red fleshy apricle, produce berries (hence the specific name). Berry yew is found in the Caucasus mountains and in the Kaliningrad region. Rarely grows in large tracts (for example, the Khosta yew-boxwood grove in the Sochi region). It is distinguished by its shade tolerance (in this indicator it has no equal among conifers).
Yew can be found from the mouth of the Amur to the south of Primorye. Its uneven trunk is covered in thin, graceful, bluish-scarlet bark, which turns gray and peels with age. The dense branches of the yew go almost horizontally, and sometimes droop towards the ground. Soft shiny dark green needles go along the branches in two rows or curl in a spiral. Individual needles look like miniature Roman swords; the center of the needles is decorated with a groove-groove and at the end of each there is a sharp spine-needle. For this reason the tree is called spear-shaped, scorpion-knife or pointed.
Under the yew there is always a light, pleasant aroma emanating from the thick crown. Skillful trimming of the tree, which it easily tolerates, gives it completely different shapes. Sometimes the elfin yew spreads along the ground, and then appendage roots emerge from the branches and, digging into the ground, give life to new trees.
It is believed that the yew is slowly dying out, but its seeds germinate reliably, producing thin, delicate, green needle shoots.
In the Far East, the yew is a solitary tree. Occasionally, however, there are groves of fifty or more trees, for example, on the Kievka and Avvakumovka rivers. There are a lot of yew trees on the Kuril Islands: a tree 18 meters high with a diameter of more than a meter was found on Kunashir. On the southern coastal islands of Naumov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Klykov there is even more freedom for yew. But the kingdom of yews is considered to be Petrov Island, which revealed Bronze Age treasures to archaeologists and grew the only yew forest in the Far East. It is so dense that it is difficult to even take photographs in it. The trees gravitate towards the eastern shore, where there is more fog and moisture, and reach 15 meters in height.
The noble yew, which lives up to 3000 years or more, is taken under protection and protection.
The world's largest yew habitat is the Batsar Gorge in Kakheti. The area of pure yew and mixed yew-beech forests here exceeds 207 hectares; they contain 13,000 large, old yew trees and about 223,000 relatively young ones, up to 100 years old. This is almost as many yew trees growing in all of Central Europe (about 80,000) and in the Carpathians (160,000) together. The largest specimens of yew in the Batsapsky reserve reach 165 cm in diameter and 32 m in height. It is believed that their age is 1700-1800 years. There is a known large specimen of yew from the Kintrishi Nature Reserve, the diameter of which reaches 180 cm.
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Planting yew in open ground
In the southern and southwestern warm regions, yew seedlings are transferred to open ground from early autumn to late October. Plants with closed roots are planted in the last days of August for a week. At the same time, it is recommended to plant perennial plants in cold climates. In general, the entire period from August 15 to the last days of autumn is considered favorable for planting a bush or tree.
When choosing a location for your tree, there are several factors to consider to ensure it develops a strong, healthy root system. Yew does not like excess moisture and high acidity of the soil. For initial planting, it is better to purchase soil enriched with minerals and nutritional supplements for garden ornamental plants. You can make your own mixture using peat, turf and coarse sand in a ratio of 2:3:2. You can add mineral supplements here.
A hole 70-75 cm deep for planting a young plant should consist of a 20 cm drainage layer and an enriched soil mixture. As drainage, you can use coarse sand from the river or crushed stone of a fraction of 0.5-50 mm.
Canadian
Having placed the plant with soil in a hole, you need to fill it with prepared soil and compact it so that the neck of the root remains above the surface. Then you need to immediately water it generously. It is recommended to sprinkle the ground around the trunk with a layer of compost mulch.
When using rows or yew hedges in the garden landscape, trenches of the same depth are dug in the ground, and the bushes are planted at a distance of 150-200 cm or 50-70 cm, respectively.
In the first couple of years, the planted plant must be protected from frequent gusts of wind, or a place for planting must be chosen without constant drafts.
Berry
Conditions for growing yew, planting and care in open ground
For ease of care, when planting yew, you should choose a suitable location. It is advisable to immediately plant the yew tree where you will form it. Although it tolerates transplantation well, it reacts to this each time by slowing down its already weak growth rate. The older the tree, the less desirable it is to transplant.
When planting, the size of the hole for the plant should be commensurate with the dimensions of the future tree. For dwarf forms, a diameter and depth of 50 cm is enough, for large ones - a larger size.
When planting and caring for yew in open ground, keep in mind that different species differ somewhat in their soil preferences, but a medium-loamy, high-humus, neutral or slightly alkaline reaction can be considered a universal substrate. A substrate option can be a mixture of garden loam or turf soil and humus in a 3:1 ratio. At the same time add wood ash.
Video: Planting yew berry
You should carefully choose a location. The proximity of groundwater is unacceptable; protection from cold winds by buildings or terrain is desirable. In this sense, western and southern gentle slopes with the accumulation of large amounts of snow are good.
When growing and caring for yew, remember that the tree grows very slowly for the first six to seven years. Its growth accelerates significantly after 7-8 years, when annual growth can reach 15 cm or more in height and about the same in width.
Caring for plants involves maintaining soil moisture and fertility. During drought, water once every two weeks with crown irrigation. It is advisable to water in the evening, then the plants will be in a humid atmosphere that is beneficial to them until the morning. A good technique, as for other conifers, is to mulch the root zone.
Caring for yew in the garden
Caring for a perennial is not a difficult task, but for healthy growth it is still necessary to carry out preventive measures to protect the bush from pests and possible maximum and minimum temperatures.
Watering
Young bushes need to be watered monthly, but adults (over 3 years old) do not need additional moisture. Their spreading root system can extract food from the deep layers of the soil.
The soil
It is advisable to loosen and clear the tree trunk circle of weeds more often, especially for recently planted plants. The wet layer of soil around the tree should be loosened to a depth of 10-15 cm. You can sprinkle a 10 cm layer of sawdust or peat mulch. This will reduce the likelihood of yew contracting diseases.
Feeding
A year after applying the first fertilizers during the yew planting period, the hole must be fertilized again. Agrochemicals that contain the components required by the bush - potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus - are well suited for annual autumn feeding. For example, Nitroammofoski will need 70 g per 1 m2, and Kemira, which also contains selenium, 100 g per 1 m2.
Trimming
For several years after planting a bush or tree, pruning is not required. Only frostbitten, dry or diseased branches must be removed. When the yew stretches and blooms, to form a beautiful top, you should shorten them by no more than one-third of the entire length. Trees older than 7 years are unpretentious and will withstand even the shortest branch lengths, continuing their lush growth. Yew should be pruned in early spring, before the first buds awaken.
Transfer
Relocating a perennial to a place favorable and convenient for development is not difficult. This needs to be done in the spring. The technology is the same as when planting a bush. A hole is prepared 15-20 cm in size than the earthen ball with the bush, lined with a drainage layer of 20 cm and filled with nutritious soil mixture. The root collar remains on the surface and is sprinkled with mulch. Then you need abundant watering with mineral fertilizing.
Shortleaf
Wintering
Yew is frost-resistant and rarely suffers from hypothermia in winter, especially with heavy snow cover. If there is little snow in winter, you need to protect the crop from freezing. To do this, you need to arrange a frame around the trunk and cover it with a breathable material such as spandbond. You cannot use roofing felt or burlap, so as not to aggravate the damage from excess moisture in the spring. When the ground warms up enough, the covering material can be removed.
Since the aggressive rays of the sun in spring can harm the delicate needles and young shoots of yew, it is better to protect the tree from their influence.
Planting and caring for yew in the country
As already mentioned, yew is very unpretentious, prefers calcareous soils that are well permeable to water. For planting, it is better to use seedlings in containers. When purchasing seedlings, pay attention to ensure that the needles look healthy. To plant, you will need to dig a hole with a depth equal to the size of the earthen ball around the roots and 2 times wider. After removing the plant from the container, you need to lightly loosen the lump of earth around the roots with your fingers and straighten the crumpled roots. Then you should lower the seedling into the hole and cover it with fertilized soil. After compacting the soil, you need to water it. In northern latitudes, it is recommended to choose places that are windless and not in the sun for yew; you can also make a fence using burlap.
Yew pruning should be done so that the cuts of the lower branches are covered by the branches growing higher. Every spring, old brown shoots must be removed. In summer, the crown of yew trees that form a hedge can be shaped into a ball or cone.
Diseases and pests
Even such an unpretentious plant as yew gets sick in uncomfortable growing conditions - with excess moisture and shade. The crop is not immune to common garden pests.
| Problem | Causes | Corrective measures |
| Branches and needles become yellow, crumble, and dry out. | Invasion of pine-eating pests: yew moths, spruce leaf beetles, pine cutworms. | Every spring, spray the trunk and branches with Nitrafen solution. In case of repeated infection, the area around the trunk must be treated with an insecticide such as Rogor, repeating the sanitization after 12 days. |
| A brown coating appears on the needles, the ends turn yellow, and crumble. The branches rot and fall. | Diseases: fusarium, necrosis, brown schutte. They occur when there is damage to the trunk bark and infection with various types of fungus. | Remove excess water from the tree trunk circle by inserting several plastic tubes into the ground 30 cm. Spray the bush with a biofungicide with a high copper content twice a year - at the beginning and end of the season. |
Yew propagation
The best method of propagating yew is considered to be vegetative. The reason is the fact that seeds take a long time to germinate - the hard shell does not allow the seed to awaken for a long time.
Pointed
Seed propagation
Yew seeds should be planted immediately after the autumn harvest, as after a year they are no longer suitable. They are removed from the reddened fruits, washed and dried. Since the hard shell delays germination, they need to be chemically treated. To do this, the seeds are dipped in a sulfuric acid solution for 30 minutes, then washed and sown in open ground.
To speed up germination, yew seeds need a change in warm and cold conditions, so the following method will be more effective. After washing with acid, the seeds are mixed with sand and sawdust and packed in plastic bags for six months at a temperature of +5 °C. In the spring, they are washed and sown in boxes, allowing them to germinate in light of +20 °C. In late spring, the boxes are taken out into the garden, hardened off and transplanted into the ground for growing.
Vegetative propagation
For bush and creeping varieties of yew, horizontal layering is considered the most convenient. After 3-6 months the branch takes root. By gradually pruning the junction, by autumn you can separate it from the mother.
Average
Cuttings are the preferred method of propagation, especially in spring, before awakening. The side branches “with a heel” extending from the main trunk are cut into cuttings. Then they are planted for germination in a loose substrate consisting of sand, pine bark, peat and perlite. It is important to maintain the original orientation of the branches and not turn them over.
Cuttings root successfully at an optimal temperature of +18...+23 °C, moderate light and soil moisture.
Mr. Summer Resident informs: the use of yew and its beneficial properties
Many centuries ago, yew groves were cut down to make various household items and furniture from dense and durable wood, comparable in strength to cedar. In addition, the bactericidal effect of yew items in the house was appreciated. For example, the ceiling beams never became moldy. Because of this, the yew was almost completely exterminated; now it is protected in nature reserves.
The poisonous yew tree can live 400-500 years, even with cavities inside the trunk; aerial roots create new shoots and, intertwining with old branches, renew the life of the tree. The extract from the needles is considered very poisonous; it contains the substance taxin, an alkaloid that can kill a person or animal. Tinctures from needles are used in the manufacture of homeopathic medicines.
Berry yew is suitable for designer landscape design of the garden, thanks to its contrasting appearance with bright dark green fluffy needles and large red fruits. The ability to cut branches short allows gardeners to grow a beautiful hedge, giving it any shape. Varieties of shrubs with creeping branches are considered the most frost-resistant, since they overwinter under snow cover.
