2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Yew berry (Latin Taxus baccata) - a representative of the Yew genus of the Yew family. Other names are hunts, greenery, neglugen or red tree. It is cultivated in large quantities in southern and central Europe, Iran, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. Yews are also grown in Russia, in particular, in the Crimea mountains, in the South Kuriles and other regions. Typical habitats are deciduous and coniferous forests, oceanic climates, lower tiers of the stand, shaded and humid gorges, mountains and plains.
Characteristics of culture
Yew berry is a large evergreen tree 10-20 m high with a spreading dense crown of an ovoid-cylindrical shape, often multi-peaked. The trunk is covered over the entire surface with a reddish-gray bark, smooth at a young age, lamellar later, and exfoliating at a mature age. Young shoots are ribbed, dark green. The needles are green, shiny on the upper side, matte on the inside, with the edges turned down, arranged spirally, ending in short thorns.
The seeds are presented in the form of cones, enclosed by berry-like seedlings of bright red color, covering the seeds to the very top. The berry yew is especially attractive during the ripening of the cones-berries, which falls on August. Yews are extremely durable (up to 4000 years), wind-resistant, smoke-resistant and shade-tolerant. Like all representatives of the Yew family, this species grows very slowly, the average growth in thickness is 1 mm in 10-12 months, although there are specimens up to 490 cm in diameter.
Growing conditions
Yews thrive in both shaded and sunny areas. They can grow without problems on those sites where other coniferous representatives die. Special requirements are put forward for soil conditions. The soils should be moist, nutritious, possibly clay or calcareous.
Reproduction and planting
Yew is propagated by seed and cuttings, as well as by grafting and layering. Seeds ripen in autumn, after harvesting they are stored in a cool room with an air temperature of about 5-6C and an average humidity. Sowing is carried out both in autumn and spring. Autumn sowing is preferable, as the seeds undergo natural stratification. When sowing in spring, the seeds are subjected to seven-month stratification at a temperature not higher than 3-5C. Seeds that have undergone stratification begin to sprout in 2-3 months, unstratified seeds - in 1-3 years.
Cutting for yews is also effective. Cuttings can be cut from both annual and biennial shoots. It is important to remember the following feature: cuttings cut from upward-directed shoots eventually form plants with a compact, non-spreading crown, and vice versa from horizontal shoots. Planting seedlings of culture is carried out in pre-prepared pits with high-quality drainage in the form of sand or broken brick. Without fail, a part of the substrate, consisting of peat, sod land and humus, fertilized with universal preparations, is poured onto the bottom of the pit. The distance between plants should be at least 600-2500 cm. You can plant yews in one row or two rows.
Care
The care is standard: watering, weeding, loosening, feeding, sanitary pruning and cutting. Young plants need special care. For the winter, near-trunk circles are mulched abundantly with dry peat; in the absence of this material, it is possible to use needles or humus. In winter and early spring, berry yew often suffers from sunburn, in this case it is recommended to cover the plants with spruce branches.
Due to the fact that the branches of the yew in autumn are fragile and brittle, after a heavy snowfall, you need to shake off the snow from them, otherwise they can break off. It is better to collect the branches in a "bunch" before wintering, tying them with twine. Adult specimens do not need such a garter.
Application
For many years, berry yew has been used in topiary art. Representatives of the species are used in the formation of hedges, figured compositions, group plantings and borders. In single plantings, berry yew also looks great.
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Yew
Yew (lat.Taxus) - a genus of coniferous evergreen shrubs and trees of the Yew family. In nature, yews are found in the coniferous forests of the Caucasus and Europe. Only seven species grow in natural conditions. Characteristic Yew is a shrub or tree with a dense crown, a smooth trunk at a young age and longitudinally furrowed in a mature and whorled arrangement of branches.
Perfect Yew
An ideal evergreen ephedra for gardens. Not afraid of frost and wind, tolerates drought, is supportive of haircuts, tolerates the polluted air of industrial cities. The sweet fleshy part of the cone fruit is edible
