Will yew be my valentine?

The yews made it out of rehab this year, and the garden is benefiting from their triumphant comeback. Five years ago, they were the typical overlooked foundation hedge, trimmed into the classic crew cut, barely concealing barren, knobby-kneed branches and a hollow interior of brown and dying needles. They're planted in a tough site—fully shaded northern exposure in inert subsoil, "mulched" with black pumice stones that look like charcoal briquets—so the thought of tying them to the bumper of a pickup and extracting them like an achy tooth was briefly tempting, but impractical.

Instead, I pruned them severely, especially trimming the tops and sides with the hope that it would allow more light and encourage new growth from the bottoms up. The four little evergreen stumps looked ridiculous for a few years, but growing they were, and every spring, I kept trimming, and trimming. And, finally, this spring:

Gentle, lush sprays of succulent, lime-green growth. Look; touch.

Comments

This is phenomenal. I wouldn't have believed it without the pics. Can you go into detail more about "pruning from the top?" How did you get rid of the top straight edge?
lucia

[kate]

What a huge difference there is between the before and after pictures. You've done wonderful work of revitalising the front ... it is really welcoming rather than forbidding as it used to be.

[Mo]

Looks great! Just goes to show what some hard work and a bit of persistence can do.

Good job!!

[Chan S.]

Kate and Mo, thank you!

Lucia, I found that most of the new growth during the growing season occurs at the top of the shrub (since it gets the most light). If left unpruned, the "crew cut" turns into somewhat of an inverted pyramid. What I've been doing each year is to cut back more of the growth at the top than at the bottom, so that the bottom stays wider than the top and greens and thickens up as more light gets through. Each spring the top "catches up", and I cut it back again. The trimming is done by hand, stem by stem, but it's a pleasurable, almost contemplative activity.

[Sarah]

What an improvement! And a fine testament to your careful work with them. I've been thinking about yews lately while doing some woodworking - it turns out they have the most beautiful orange wood. The discovery of their inner color, coupled with your post, is boosting them considerably in my estimation.

[Blower Vacs]

You have worked hard there. Looks really good.