Our range of bare root Yew (Taxus baccata) hedging plants and trees 

We have Taxus baccata bare roots in several sizes and specifications.  They begin life as hardwood cuttings.  They can be grown from seed but that doesnt give a good quality plant and makes them random in colour and shape whereas cutting grown plants have similarities which is important in what is primarily a hedging plant or a small tree.

After the cuttings have been taken from top quality mother plants, they are planted out into open fields (at which point they are called transplants) and after 3 or 4 years, they are ready to be sold. This length of time to grow into saleable plants contrasts with many of the seed grown species we offer which are ready in just one or two years and it is the additional maintenance and care over several years that Taxus baccata plants need that accounts for the extra cost.  In addition to taking longer to grow, the spacing in the fields is generous to give them enough nutrients and water to grow bushy.   Most evergreen plants do not grow well as bare roots but Yew bare roots are an exception (along with Box, Cherry Laurel and Privet) and using bare roots is a fantastic way to get a superb evergreen hedge at the lowest possible cost, much cheaper than root balls or pots and already used to growing outdoors, all year round, in open fields with all that the UK weather throws at us.

English Yew (Taxus baccata) Summary

Taxus baccata is one of the very few native evergreen species suitable for woodlands and urban planting as either a tree, shrub or hedge – Holly is the other native evergreen species.  Taxus baccata can be pruned to a very sharp formal shape and as a relatively slow grower only needs to be trimmed once a year, or it can be allowed to grow as a natural shrub shape, allowed to grow as a conical shaped tree with a clear stem or it can be pruned into a soft but formal shape (cloud pruning).  Often called the King of Hedging it’s the most expensive hedging plant you can buy but bought bare root it becomes much more economical.  It is native to the north of the UK and Scandinavia and is very hardy so suitable for all regions of the UK.  

Soil and Situation

Taxus baccata plants do not like to stand in water so needs a well drained situation although occasional flooding can be tolerated and heavy clay soils are ideal.   It will grow very well in shade as well as sun.   It does need some moisture to get established so is not suitable for a very dry site. Yew grows well in shade.

Leaves, flowers and fruit

The leaves are dark green conifer needles.  It does have flowers but they are inconspicuous.  Male flowers are small, yellow and shed pollen early in the year. Female flowers develop into red berry-like fruit known as an aril, and although poisonous to browsing animals (as are the leaves), they are eaten by wildlife when ripe.

Its wood, needles, bark and seeds are highly poisonous and yet taxol, the substances which makes them toxic, has been found to have beneficial effect in human cancer treatment.  The flesh of the red aril is edible but all other parts are highly toxic (probably better not to try eating any part of it!) although deer seem to be tolerant of the needles and birds can eat the seeds and thrushes in particular are very partial to the fleshy part of the seed.

The red-brown bark and complex trunk and branches grow more intriguing with age.

The leaves - small, dark green, flat, soft pointy blades with paler undersides - are in two messy rows either side of the twig, neither alternating nor opposite.

The longbows of Robin Hood's time used both heartwood and sapwood for the maximum combination of tensile strength and flexibility.  Yew wood is very hard and long lasting.  Because it is so dense, it sinks in water so it was never used in ship/boat building and also it has not been used as a building timber because each trunk is actually numerous shoots - but it is useful for stakes, fenceposts and gateposts, though great care must be taken when working with the wood due to its toxicity.

Eventual height and growth rate

Taxus baccata is a very long living species and eventually would grow to a height of 20m. It has a reputation of being a slow grower but actually it grows by about 30cm pa (as long as you leave the central leader in place) if planted in full sun.  Yew trees are the longest living native tree species in Europe and can live up to 3000 years.  They are difficult to date because they do not produce a growth ring every year and all old yews are hollow in any event.  There is one at Perth and Kinross which is thought to be at least 2000 years old.

Taxus baccata can be coppiced which is unusual for a conifer.