English Yew Bare Root - Taxus Baccata
English Yew is Britain's most iconic evergreen tree, steeped in history and revered for its deep green foliage and remarkable longevity. This native species is the ultimate choice for formal hedging, topiary, and structural planting. Exceptionally versatile and shade-tolerant, Yew responds beautifully to clipping and can be shaped into virtually any form. Whilst it grows slowly, this is a plant that will grace your garden for generations, providing year-round structure and a superb backdrop for other plants.
Key Features
- Height & Spread: Ultimately 10-20 metres tall as a tree, but easily maintained at any height through clipping
- Hardiness: Fully hardy (RHS H7) – tolerates temperatures below -20°C
- Soil: Adaptable to most soils except waterlogged conditions
- Aspect: Thrives in full sun to deep shade – one of the best evergreens for shade
- Growth Rate: Slow to moderate (15-30cm per year), making it easy to maintain
What to Expect
Year-Round Foliage Dense, dark green needles provide exceptional evergreen coverage throughout the year. The foliage has a luxurious, fine texture that responds beautifully to clipping, creating crisp, architectural lines.
Autumn Colour Female plants (Yew is dioecious) produce striking bright red berries in autumn, providing valuable food for birds. The fleshy red arils contrast beautifully against the dark foliage.
Timeless Elegance Whether grown as a formal hedge, shaped topiary specimen, or allowed to develop naturally, Yew brings a sense of permanence and sophistication to any garden.
Ideal Uses
- Formal hedging – creates the finest hedge of any evergreen
- Topiary – excellent for balls, pyramids, and intricate shapes
- Screening for privacy or to hide unsightly views
- Specimen tree in larger gardens
- Shady gardens where few other evergreens thrive
- Historic and cottage garden styles • Wildlife gardens – berries for birds, dense cover for nesting
Planting & Care
Planting Your Bare Root Plant between November and March whilst dormant. Soak roots in a bucket of water for 2-4 hours before planting. Dig a hole twice the width of the root system, ensuring the previous soil mark sits at ground level. Mix in some well-rotted compost if your soil is poor. Firm in thoroughly and water well. For hedging, space plants 45-60cm apart.
Initial Establishment
- Water regularly during the first two growing seasons, particularly in dry spells
- Mulch around the base to retain moisture and suppress weeds
- Avoid disturbing the roots once established
Ongoing Maintenance
- Watering: Once established, Yew is remarkably drought-tolerant
- Feeding: Apply a balanced fertiliser in spring to encourage healthy growth
- Trimming: Clip hedges and topiary in late summer (August) and again in early autumn if needed
- Yew tolerates hard pruning and will regenerate from old wood
Growing Conditions
Soil Requirements Yew tolerates most soil types including chalk, clay, and sandy soils, provided drainage is reasonable. It dislikes waterlogged conditions, so avoid planting in boggy areas.
Sun & Shade One of the best evergreens for shade, Yew grows equally well in full sun or deep shade, making it invaluable for difficult north-facing positions or under tree canopies.
Important Safety Information
⚠️ Toxicity Warning: All parts of the Yew plant except the red berry flesh are highly poisonous to humans and most animals (particularly horses and livestock). The seeds inside the berries are also toxic. Plant away from areas where children play unsupervised and keep livestock away from clippings. Despite this, Yew has been grown safely in gardens for centuries with appropriate care.
Why Choose English Yew?
English Yew is unmatched for creating formal structure in the garden. No other evergreen clips quite as crisply or provides such a rich, dark green backdrop. Its exceptional shade tolerance makes it invaluable for challenging positions, whilst its longevity means you're planting for future generations. Historic gardens across Britain demonstrate Yew's enduring appeal – from ancient churchyard specimens to immaculate topiary gardens.
The slow growth rate, often seen as a disadvantage, actually means less frequent trimming once established. A well-maintained Yew hedge improves with age, becoming denser and more magnificent over time.
Perfect for: Formal gardens, traditional cottage gardens, creating structure, hedging enthusiasts, shady positions, wildlife-friendly planting, and gardeners seeking timeless elegance.
Native Plant: As a British native, English Yew supports our native wildlife and fits naturally into the landscape.
Please see our bare root plant guides for more information. We've put together a collect of help and advice articles covering what bare root plants are, why they are a good choice, which plants are available bare root, when and where to plant.
Deciduous plants supplied bare root during the dormancy period will not have any leaves at this time; top growth will just be brown and twiggy to start with and will come into leaf in the spring. This is perfectly normal. The plants we supply are healthy will an extensive root system. Please see the final picture for an illustration of how your plants will look when they are delivered.
Bare Root is usually dispatched between early November and late March. Exact dates vary year to year depending on the weather. We cannot guarantee availability for a certain date at the beginning or end of the season.
Important Bare Root Care
As soon as you receive your bare root plants place the items upright in a bucket of clean water immediately leaving them for at least 2 hours. Only take plants out as you need them for planting.
Q: When is bare root season?
A: Our bare root season usually runs from November to March but it can depend on the weather conditions, we'd always recommend buying at the end of autumn rather than waiting for spring.
Q: Does the plant size include the roots?
A: No, all bare root plant sizes quoted exclude the roots.
Q: What size plants will I receive?
A: Stock size varies through the season, our 'Plant Size' are give as a guide and you will receive plants somewhere in that range. We are unable to specify exactly how tall the plants will be within that range.
Q: How old will the plants be?
A: Most of our 'Plant Sizes' include the age of the plant, this is shown as a sum e.g. 1+2 which in this case would indicate that the plants are 3 years old. The first number is how long the plant has spent in the seedbed and the second is the number of year it has spent lined out in the field. Where the sum starts with a 0+ this indicates that the plants were grown from a rooted cutting.
Q: Can I get a discount for bulk purchases?
A: We offer a discount banding on bare root plants making them cheaper the more you buy, see the table on each page for details of the price within each band.
Q: Do I need canes?
A: Bamboo canes are perfect for giving young saplings, hedging plants, climbers and other tall shrubs the support they need when they start to establish. Unless you are planting in a completely sheltered spot with very little chance of wind then we would always recommend using a cane for support.
Q: Do I need rabbit guards?
A: Spiral Rabbit Guards are the most popular, low cost tree protection for young saplings, seedlings, transplants and hedging plants from browsing animals such as voles, mice, rabbits and hares. Spiral Rabbit Guards have the ability to grow and expand with the growing tree, providing a sheltered environment for the tree. It's hard to say for certain if you will require the extra protection a rabbit guard provides, if your are aware of a particular pest problem in your planting location then we would recommend using them. Rabbit Guards are not suitable for 'evergreens' please see 'Shrub Shelters' for a suitable evergreen protection method.
Q: What is a shrub/tree shelter?
A: Shrub/Tree Shelters are similar to rabbit guards but are designed for use on evergreens that would sweat and die in rabbit guards. We supply shrub/tree shelters as a kit which includes the shelter, 1 Stake and 2 cable ties, one kit is required per plant.
Q: Do I need shrub/tree shelters?
A: If you are aware of any specific pest problems in your planting area then we would recommend using a shrub/tree shelter to give your young trees or hedging plants that extra protection.
As soon as you receive your bare root plants place the items upright in a bucket of clean water immediately leaving them for at least 2 hours. Only take plants out as you need them for planting.
Bare root plants must always be planted with wet roots, it’s not good enough to plant them dry and water them after planting.
Bare root plants should only be planted in good quality, free draining soil to the level they have been grown at nursery. Always make sure they are ‘healed in’ well and watered immediately after plating and whenever there are 3 or more days of dry weather.
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In stock
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£3.20 |