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Dark green color and fine-textured needles make yews a softer, often hardier, replacement for other evergreens in the landscape. The tall, stately English yews are must-haves for garden history buffs in temperate climates. Otherwise, the intermediate hybrids and Japanese yews offer plush texture for hedges, screens, groundcovers, and topiaries. Yews grow in fertile well-drained soil, either alkaline or acidic, from sunny to heavily shaded sites. Yews are tolerant of dry soils and air pollution. The clear red berries appear on female varieties.


Part Sun, Shade, Sun



8 to 20 feet


To 40 feet wide, depending on the species

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how to grow Yew

more varieties for Yew
Brown's yew

Brown's yew

(Taxus media 'Brownii') forms a dense, rounded shrub to 10 feet tall and wide. Zones 5-7

Capitata yew

Capitata yew

(Taxus cuspidata 'Capitata') forms a broad dense pyramid, slow growing to 40 feet tall. Zones 4-7

Densiformis yew

Densiformis yew

(Taxus media 'Densiformis') is a good choice for hedges, as it grows into a thick, spreading mound 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Zones 5-7

Green Wave yew

Green Wave yew

(Taxus cuspidata 'Green Wave') forms a low, arching mound to 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Zones 4-7

Golden English yew

Golden English yew

(Taxus baccata 'Dovastonii Aurea') is a small, female yew variety with drooping branches and gold-edged needles. It grows 15 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Zones 7-8

Hicks yew

Hicks yew

(Taxus media 'Hicksii') is a fast-growing hybrid with an open habit that's great for hedges. It's also a hardier substitute for Irish yew. This variety grows 25 feet tall by 10 feet wide. Zones 5-7

Irish yew

Irish yew

(Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata') is the the tall, rounded evergreen often seen in English gardens. It becomes a broad, upright column of greenish-black needles. Its upright branches adapt well to shearing. Grows 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Zones 7-8

Taunton yew

Taunton yew

(Taxus media 'Tauntonii') becomes a low-spreading mound to 3 feet across. It tolerates weather extremes of wind, heat and cold well, and is a great plant for dry, shaded spots. Zones 5-7

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