120m of yew, restored

Old, gappy yew hedge brought back to life with hard renovation pruning and ground feeding.

Yew is one of the most forgiving hedging plants in the British Isles — and one of the most neglected. This 120-metre boundary hedge in rural Shropshire had been cut too hard on top and not hard enough on the sides for at least fifteen years. The result was a leggy, thin screen with daylight showing through in several places.

We took the decision to renovate one side per year — cutting back to bare wood on the worst-affected face, feeding heavily with fish, blood and bone, and mulching with composted bark. Yew responds to this kind of hard pruning with vigorous new growth, but only if the roots are well-fed and the timing is right (late winter, before the sap rises).

Twelve months after the first cut, the renovated face was covered in fresh, dense growth. The second side followed the next winter. The hedge is now as solid as it was fifty years ago — and the client has a maintenance plan to keep it that way.