Yew (lat. Taxus) - garden decorative culture of the Yew family. It happens tree or shrub, it depends on belonging to one of eight species. Several species of conifers, also called yews, are found in Europe and Asia, one in North Africa. The most frost-resistant grow in the Far East and Norway. Gradually, wild species of yew disappear, and cultivation by gardeners increases, since it requires minimal maintenance and fits well into the landscape.
Yew tree description
Yew has dense branches with dark green soft needles, forming a rounded or cylindrical shape of a crown, consisting of several peaks. Shrub species grow no more than 10 m in height, and trees 20 m or more. A red-brown tree trunk about 4 m thick is covered with small scales. On plants of a female type, red berries 5-8 mm in diameter ripen beautifully diluting dense greens, which makes male bushes with single round cones less popular.
As part of any part of the perennial contains toxic substances that are widely used for medical purposes, so the yew is protected by state environmental authorities.
Slow-growing yew has strong and pest resistant wood. Due to its density and resistance to decay, the tree is unpretentious to places of growth and a long absence of sun. Furniture was previously made from yew wood and log houses were built.
Types and varieties of yew
| View | Crown | Features / Grade | Height, m |
| Berry | Cylindrical, ovoid, sometimes multi-vertex. | It is found in the forests of mountainous Caucasian, Asian and European areas. Duplex needles on the lateral and spiral on the upper branches. Deep green, glossy on the front and velvety with yellowness on the back. The red trunk of the tree is layered, uneven, with grayish spots.
| 1,7-2,7 |
| Canadian | Pyramidal. | Frost-resistant lying shrub growing in the northern regions of America. The branches growing upwards are covered with a thick pale curved needles.
| 1-2 |
| Pointed | Oval, wide, loose. | It grows in the Far East and in Japan. Sickle-shaped rare needles of dark, and from below pale green color. Yellow stems at the top turn down to brown. Berries of a tree of pink shades. Shrubby species up to 1.5 m.
| 0,7-2 |
| Short-leaved | Wide, pin-shaped. | A view of a tree from North America with hanging branches growing perpendicular to the trunk. Double row yellow 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, long 28 mm, with a clear median vein. Ascending branches of olive, at the ends of a reddish color. Frost resistant.
| 5 |
Outdoor yew planting
In the southern and southwestern warm regions, yew seedlings are transferred to open ground from the beginning of autumn to the end of October. Plants with closed roots are planted in late August during the week. At the same time, it is recommended to plant a perennial plant in cold climatic conditions. In general, the entire period from August 15 to the last autumn days is considered favorable for planting a bush or tree.
When choosing a place for a tree, several factors should be taken into account that allow a strong and healthy root system to develop. Yew does not like excessive moisture and acidity of the soil. For the initial planting, it is better to purchase a soil enriched with minerals and nutritious additives for garden ornamental plants. You can also make the mixture yourself using peat, turf and coarse sand in a ratio of 2: 3: 2. Here you can add mineral fertilizing.
A hole with a depth of 70-75 cm for planting a young plant should consist of a drainage layer of 20 cm and an enriched soil mixture. As drainage, you can use coarse sand from the river or gravel fractions of 0.5-50 mm. 
Canadian
Having put the plant with the soil in the pit, 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 abundantly. It is recommended to sprinkle the earth around the trunk with a layer of mulch from compost.
When using rows or hedges from yew in the garden landscape, trenches of the same depth dig in the ground, and 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 choose a place for planting without constant drafts. 
Berry
Yew Care in the Garden
Caring for a perennial is a simple 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, and adults (over 3 years old) do not need additional moisture. Their sprawling root system can extract food from the deep layers of the soil.
The soil
It is advisable to loosen and clean the near-stem circle from weeds more often, especially in recently planted plants. The moist layer of earth around the tree should be loosened 10-15 cm in depth. You can sprinkle with a layer of mulch 10 cm from sawdust or peat. This will reduce the likelihood of contracting yew diseases.
Top dressing
A year after making the first fertilizer during the yew planting period, the hole must be fertilized again. As an annual autumn top dressing, agrochemicals are well suited, as part of which there are components required for the bush - potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. For example, Nitroammofoski will need 70 g per 1 m2, and Kemira, which also contains selenium, 100 g per 1 m2.
Pruning
Several years after planting a bush or tree, pruning is not required. Only frostbitten, dry or diseased branches are required to be removed. When the yew is extended and blooms, to form a beautiful top, they should be shortened by no more than one third of the entire length. Trees older than 7 years are unpretentious and will withstand even the shortest length of branches, continuing lush growth. Yew pruning should be done in early spring before the first buds awake.
Transfer
Relocating the perennial to a favorable and convenient place for development is not difficult. You need to do this in the spring. The technology is the same as when planting a bush. A hole is prepared with dimensions of 15-20 cm than an earthen lump with a bush, lined with a drainage layer of 20 cm and filled with nutritious soil mixture. The root neck remains on the surface and is sprinkled with mulch. Then you need abundant watering with mineral top dressing. 
Short-leaved
Wintering
Yew is frost-resistant and rarely suffers from hypothermia in the winter, especially with heavy snow cover. If in winter there is little snow, you need to protect the culture from freezing. To do this, arrange the frame around the trunk and cover it with breathable material such as spandbond. Do not use roofing material or burlap, so as not to aggravate the damage from excessive moisture in the spring. When the ground warms up enough, the covering material can be removed.
Since aggressive spring sun rays can harm delicate needles and young yew sprouts, it is better to cover the tree from their effects.
Diseases and Pests
Even such an unpretentious plant, like yew, gets sick in uncomfortable growing conditions - with excessive moisture and shade. The culture is not insured against common garden pests.
| Problem | Causes | Remedial measures |
| Branches and needles turn yellow, crumble, dry out. | The invasion of coniferous pests: yew pseudoscapes, spruce leaf-needles-needles, pine scoop. | Each spring, spray the trunk and branches with a solution of Nitrafen. When re-infected, the area around the trunk must be treated with an Rogor insecticide, repeating redevelopment after 12 days. |
| A brown coating appears on the needles, the ends turn yellow, crumble. Branches rot and fall. | Diseases: Fusarium, necrosis, brown shute. Occur in the presence of damage to the bark of the trunk and infection with different types of fungus. | Remove excess water from the near-stem circle by inserting several plastic tubes into the ground by 30 cm. Spray the bush with a biofungicide, high in copper, twice a year - at the beginning and end of the season. |
Yew breeding
The best method of propagating yew is considered vegetative. The reason is the fact of a long germination of seeds - a hard shell for a long time does not allow the seed to awaken. 
Pointed
Seed propagation
Yew seeds should be planted immediately after the autumn harvest, since a year later they are no longer suitable. They are extracted from reddened fruits, washed and dried. Since the hard shell delays germination, they must be chemically treated. For this, the seeds are lowered for 30 minutes in a solution of sulfuric acid, then washed and sown in open ground.
To accelerate germination, yew seeds need a change of 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 packaged in plastic bags for six months with a temperature of +5 ° C. In the spring, they are washed and sown in boxes, allowing +20 ° C to germinate in the light. In late spring, the boxes are taken out into the garden, hardened and transplanted into the ground for growing.
Vegetative propagation
For bush and creeping yew varieties, horizontal layering is considered the most convenient. After 3-6 months, the branch takes root. Gradually cutting the junction, by autumn it can be separated from the mother. 
Average
Cuttings are the preferred method of propagation, especially in spring, before waking up. On the cuts cut side branches with a heel, extending from the main trunk. Then they are planted for germination in a loose substrate, consisting of sand, coniferous bark, peat and perlite. It is important to keep the original orientation of the branches and not to turn them over.
Cuttings successfully root at an optimum temperature of + 18 ... +23 ° C, moderate light and soil moisture.
Mr. Dachnik informs: the use of yew and its beneficial properties
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 objects in the house was appreciated. For example, ceiling beams have never been moldy. Because of this, the yew was almost completely exterminated, now it is protected in nature reserves.
The poisonous yew tree is able to live 400-500 years, even with cavities inside the trunk, aerial roots create new processes and, interwoven with old branches, resume the life of the tree. The extract from the needles is considered very poisonous, it contains the substance thaksin from the category of alkaloids that can kill a person or an animal. Tincture of needles is used in the manufacture of homeopathic medicines.
The yew berry is suitable for design landscaping of the garden, thanks to the contrasting look with bright dark green fluffy needles and red large fruits. The ability to cut branches short allows gardeners to grow beautiful hedges, giving them any shape. Varieties of shrubs with creeping branches are considered the most frost-resistant, as they winter under snow cover.
