Taxus Selection

We hope this will help in you selection. Although we think that yews are
overused they do have a place in the shade garden.

Taxus -Yew

Form

1. Culturally a medium-sized evergreen shrub although older forms can
grow into a very  large shrub of 30' tall or more, but often sheared into
a small- or medium-sized spreading shrub.
2. Maturity for most modern compact cultivars that spread is at roughly
5' tall by 10' wide , but highly variable among the cultivars, and often
sheared to fit the dimensions needed for a particular site or hedge.
3.      Upright spreading growth habit, although some are globed or upright
columnar.
4. Slow growth rate.

Culture

1.      Full sun to full shade.
2.      Preforms best in full sun in moist to dry soil, of average fertility;
highly adaptable to poor soils, compacted soils, very dry soils, heat,
drought, shearing, pruning, and root pruning, but does not tolerate
poorly drained soils that give it "wet feet", leading to root rot and the
resultant decline or death.
3.      Propagated almost exclusively by rooted stem cuttings, although seeds
are an alternative.
4.      Yew Family, with black vine weevil being the primary cosmetic pest
problem, creating a notch-shaped feeding pattern in the foliage; while
other pests and diseases can occur, they rarely do, and the only major
concern  is proper placement in a well-drained or dry site.
5.      Abundantly available in ball and burlap form, but increasingly in
container form.
6.      Unlike spreading or upright Arborvitae or Junipers,Taxus can be
moderately to severely cut back to the bare stems below the evergreen
foliage, and it will often slowly recover and send out sparse new shoots,
especially if the pruning is done in very early Spring although they do
sometimes die.
7.      All yews are toxic when eaten by humans and animals, including the
leaves, stems, bark, and seeds; however, extensive handling does not
transmit the toxin, which is called taxine.
8. Taxine, a toxin that is poisonous when ingested, should not be
confused with taxol, a beneficial cancer-treating drug, which can be
chemically extracted and purified from the bark of Western Yew.

Foliage

1.      Evergreen needles emerge light green and transition to dark green, are
dull shiny, about 1" long, flattened, and arranged in paired rows along
each side of the stem.
2.      Foliage on the exterior portions of the shrub may winter-burn in
exposed sites of its northern range, but will recover its green color in
early Spring.
3. Foliage may also melt out in the southern part of its range.
4.      Some cultivars are noted for their foliage that is bright green,
fine-textured, and winterburn-resistant.

Flowers

1. Dioecious and ornamentally insignificant.
2.      Staminate flowers are tan-white, miniature, globose, solitary in the
leaf axils from the previous season, and shed much pollen.
3. Pistillate flowers are like miniature stalked cones, green, and
solitary.

Fruits

1.      Arils are often hidden among the foliage of female plants until they
turn red in September, becoming noticeable as sessile fruits scattered
along the stems, but usually not long lasting.
2. Each aril has a unique squarish opening in the bottom of its red
flesh, from which a brown seed can be seen.

Twigs

1.      First-year stems are green throughout the entire growing season and
first Winter, slowly changing to tan-green in the second year, and
brown-red in succeeding years.

Trunk

1. Bark on the curving, twisting, and never straight multi-trunks is
reddish-brown, and often hidden by the dense evergreen foliage.
2. Bark exfoliates in flakes when the trunks are exposed.

Assets

1. Attractive foliage, dark evergreen, dull shiny, with flattened
needles.
2. Extreme tolerance to drought, poor soils, and repeated shearing.
3. Usually has recovery from severe pruning.
4. Many cultivars are available, although only about ten are truly needed
since most are sheared into one of three basic shapes anyway.

Liabilities

1. Does not tolerate permanently moist or wet sites at all.
2. Often gets out-of-bounds or becomes too much of a shearing chore with
maturity.
3. Winterburns in its northern range and melts out in its southern range.
4.  Overused due to its being narrowleaf evergreen, drought tolerant,
poor soil adaptable, and very shearable.


Variants

1. Taxus x media - selected for compactness, growth rate, growth habit,
stem and foliage density, foliage color in Summer or Winter, foliage
texture, heat tolerance, or cold hardiness; some of the most common
cultivars are listed below according to the three basic growth habits:

A. Spreaders- Berryhilli, Chadwickii, Everlow, Sebian, Tauntonii, and
Wardii.
B.      Rounded- Brownii, Densiformis, Fairview, Kobelli, L.C. Bobbink,
Natorp, Nigra,and Runyanii.
C. Upright columnar-Citation, Hicksii, Stoveken, and Viridis.
D. Spreading vibrant golden-yellow cultivar - Sunburst.

2. Taxus baccata 'Repandens' - a dwarf spreader, very slowly to 3' tall
by 12' wide, with dark green needles that are sickle-shaped, with the
ends of the branches being semi-pendulous,functionally a tall groundcover
shrub.


3. Taxus cuspidata 'Capitata' Upright Japanese Yew Hardy to Zone 5 ,Often
to 20' tall by 5' wide Plant in full sun to shade.

Taxus cuspidata capitata is a good upright yew for hedge,
border,semiformal specimen planting, or foundation planting. Disease
resistant and does well on a north exposure. Slow growing pyramidal form,
in youth yields to a graceful 45-degree angled extremely dense branches.
Can be left unpruned for years. For a natural look, prune individual
branches instead of shearing every year. Can be 40' tall by 10' wide
under optimum conditions, gets leggy with age, but often pruned to reveal
its purplish-red-brown exfoliating bark. Deep green evergreen shrub, flat
needle foliage and ornamental scarlet berries, with the fruit ripening in
fall. Often found at entrancewaysas a specimen shrub.

w martin
myg1728@aol.com
http://www.oakmediacreations.com/myg/index.html
Zone 5, Southwestern Lower Michigan
Martin's Yard & Garden
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