Yew trees are very slow-growing conifers, but they are also often grown in a hedge as a privacy screen. So that they grow faster, there are a few care tips and tricks to accelerate growth so that a newly planted hedge also quickly offers the desired protection from prying eyes from the street or the neighboring garden. The following article explains how this ideally works and which care instructions should be observed here.
Table of Contents
location
Yew trees are trees or shrubs that grow quite slowly. Nevertheless, they are often cultivated as a hedge, because they get along well in both full sun and partially shaded to shady locations. However, the plants should not be planted too close to a sealed surface. Because here the roots do not get enough air and growth can stop. It is therefore always advisable not to plant Taxus baccata as a hedge along a path, but always to keep a little distance.
Soil condition
Soil quality is important for Taxus baccata to grow faster . Because in a compacted and hard soil, the roots have little chance of developing. The whole plant remains small and hardly grows. Therefore, the right substrate should be taken into account when planting in order to accelerate the growth of the yew tree. The floor should therefore ideally look like this:
- Loosen the garden soil with sand
- Fold in the compost and horn shavings
- Loose, fresh and well-drained soil
- Avoid waterlogging
- for this drainage from pottery shards or gravel
- Place on the bottom of the planting hole
In good soil, the young yew grows 20 to 25 centimeters in the year, then less with age.
More fertilizing
In order to promote the growth of the yew, the yew must receive more fertilizer than indicated in the normal care instructions. When planting, care should be taken to ensure that there is sufficient fertilization so that the new plants can develop their roots directly and thus ensure vigorous growth right from the start. So when fertilizing should be done as follows to accelerate growth:
- Put nettles in the planting hole when planting
- place over the drainage system
- fertilize regularly in spring
- use natural fertilizers
- Compost, rock flour, horn shavings
- Chicken or horse manure
- Lawn clippings or leaves
- Guinea pig or rabbit droppings
- Always fertilize barren soil made of sand
Extra long-term fertilizers for yew trees are also available on the market, but if you have the opportunity to get one or more natural fertilizers, you should also use them.
More pouring
Rainwater should always be used for watering. Because this does not contain lime. If lime gets into the earth, the soil is compacted, the roots cannot absorb fertilizer or water well and the yew tree will remain correspondingly smaller and will not accelerate its growth despite many fertilizers. So it is important that the following is poured to ensure that the yew grows faster:
- a lot of watering already in spring
- when no natural rain falls
- whenever the surface of the earth has dried up
- Regularly loosen the soil around the plant
- be careful not to damage the roots
- Avoid waterlogging at all costs
- occurs in compacted earth through lime
More frequent cutting
For the yew to grow faster, it must be pruned regularly. That sounds suspicious at first, but by cutting certain shoots, Taxus baccata will then sprout faster and more densely. In addition, the plant is easy to cut and should therefore be cut as follows:
- at least twice a year
- once in early spring
- the second time in autumn
- Choose a frost-free, overcast day
- Shorten long shoots to the required length
- Do not cut the hedge from above
- wait until the desired height is reached
- cut off dry and frozen shoots directly on the trunk
When cutting the yew, care should be taken that all parts of it are poisonous. Even if the skin comes into contact with the interfaces or the plant parts, the skin can be irritated. Therefore, you should always wear enough protection for your own health, such as clothing, gardening gloves and possibly eye protection.
Conclusion
Who cares for the Taxus baccata a little more than indicated in many care instructions, can accelerate its growth. The yew tree should therefore receive more fertilizer and fresh rainwater immediately after planting. The pruning is also an important point so that the bush sprouts better again and thus grows more densely as a hedge. Also important are the location, which should not be directly on a tarred or concreted path, as well as the nature of the soil, which must always be loose, fresh and permeable. With these care tips, it also works with the faster growth of the yew tree.
