Garden Plant: Hicks Yew
Hicks Yew
Product Description: Hicks Yew
Lushly Thick, Columnar Hicks Yew Evergreen
- Resilient and Hardy
- Great Privacy Screen
- Grows Well in Sun or Shade
- Wide Range of Well-Drained Soils
- Long-Lived
When a plant is this classic and well-behaved, it winds up being grown in almost every community across growing Zones 4 – 8. Hicks Yew (Taxus x media \’Hicksii’) is a popular shrub that forms a thick, bushy barrier that won’t lose its color or foliage in winter.
A real favorite with professional landscapers, the Hicks Yew may not turn heads as a specimen plant. Rather, with its dense, dark and shiny green needles, these plants make a fantastic vertical screen or background. It’s a perfect “supporting actor” for showier plants.
Often called the “backbone” of landscape design, evergreens such as Hicks Yews work hard to provide year-round structure. They are easy care plants that work in sun, shade and everything in between.
This plant is a great example of the head start You’ll get when you buy larger plants. For the Hicks Yew, buy as large a container as you possibly can. You’ll definitely appreciate the larger impact it will have in your yard.
The outstanding upright form of this evergreen shrub has a loose, columnar shape that is wider than it is tall. You can prune it to control the height, but that’s just a quick job once it reaches the height that you would like it to be. Some like to prune the tops into a point for a narrow formal pointed evergreen. Or, let it grow naturally into tall hedges.
This improved variety grows faster than English yew as a young plant. Yews are generally very long-lived plants. A beloved specimen in Scotland is 5,000 years old!
Hicks Yew can take just about anything you throw at it, from artistic topiary pruning to poor city environments. These dark green plants grow well in any drained soil. Full sun or shade makes no difference, they’ll do just fine in any sun exposure.
We bet you have dozens all around your neighborhood! Keep your eyes out for these attractive workhorses.
Order enough to complete your project today. Like so many others, we know You’ll love this classic choice.
How to Use Hicks Yew in the Landscape
There’s a reason that landscape artists use the Hicks Yew for so many purposes. This lovely evergreen looks great planted along your property boundary or in a line beside your pool for a bit more privacy. Plant them 18 inches apart (measured from trunk to trunk), so they’ll grow together as a single screen.
If you buy larger plants, you won’t have as long to wait for your new privacy screen!
Hicks Yews make handsome partners flanking opposing sides of your entryway, outdoor room, or garden entrance. Plant them to shield your patio from prying eyes, and to provide shade from late afternoon sun in the Zones 3 – 5.
It can also be used as a foundation plant at the corner of your house. There, it’s narrow growth habit and uniformly dense foliage will ground the home with the surrounding landscape beautifully and very effectively.
They make incredible backdrops for your perennial border, wildlife or woodland garden. Try them in large containers, for portable screening.
Give them enough room to grow into their full mature size. Yes, you can prune them – but if you plan for their full size, You’ll be happy in the long run.
Pro Plant Tips for Care
This hardworking, low maintenance shrub asks only for a trim once a year by the Fourth of July. You can prune and shear the Hicks Yew into your favorite shape, and it will come back with fluffy and delightful green foliage.
This easy-to-care-for plant does well in almost any soil, except the wettest soils as the root system won’t tolerate standing water. In colder climates of plant hardiness Zones 4 or 5, it might be best sited out of very exposed windy sites. For warm Zones 8, give it afternoon shade if you can.
It performs whether it is planted in sun or shade and that is one of the best attributes of this evergreen. It’s rare to find a plant that can tolerate either condition, let alone find an evergreen that can screen or be a hedge in either exposure. It even performs well in shade or sun in urban conditions.
For best results, we recommend Root Booster with each plant. Just click to add a bag when you place them in your shopping cart.
After you dig a wide planting hole, sprinkle the entire bag at the bottom. Then, remove the plant from its plastic container and backfill with loosened soil.
Don’t plant Hicks Yews too deeply. Remember, they won’t like “wet feet” or having their roots in standing water. Instead, consider planting them with an inch of their root ball showing. You’ll mulch up around the exposed roots to improve drainage.
Tamp the soil down gently around the plant, then completely saturate the ground with water. It’s a good idea to apply 2 – 3 inches of mulch around the Hicks Yew to suppress weeds. Just be careful not to let the mulch touch the main stem.
Be patient with your yews. They’ll need time to establish themselves in your native soil. Keep them watered well the first season. Thereafter, give them a deep drink once a month if you experience prolonged periods of dry weather without natural rainfall.
Follow the Planting Guidelines you receive with your Order Confirmation for best results. Plan to apply a slow-release fertilizer for shrubs in the early spring. You’ll love it’s bright green new foliage that welcomes the new growing season.
Order several Hicks Yew and enjoy a bit of privacy in no time. This low-maintenance plant is always in high demand, so make sure you get yours while you can.