Evergreen Yew Trees With Red Berries

Varieties and Geography

• Two varieties of yew tree, the English yew and the Japanese yew, along with their different cultivars, make suitable landscaping species and feature red berries. English yew grows in parts of Europe, with its range extending into North Africa. Japanese yew's native distribution includes parts of Japan, Manchuria and Korea. The result of the cross between both these evergreen yews yields the "Anglojap" yew, a hybrid that includes mostly shrubs, but some cultivars that assume tree form.

Size and Form

• English yew grows between 30 and 60 feet tall, with widths from 15 to 25 feet. It has a conical shape and a dense branching habit. Japanese yew is smaller, from 10 to 40 feet high. Its width sometimes exceeds its height and the form of a Japanese yew is variable. While some are narrow, others are broad, with the shape ranging from conical to a wide, spreading flat-topped tree. Hicksii is a common cultivar of Anglojap yew that grows tall enough to qualify as a tree. Hicksii develops to between 12 and 20 feet high, with a narrow, columnar appearance.

Growing Conditions

• These evergreen yews are tolerant of the shade to the point of being one of your best needled evergreen options for a shady site. Easily transplanted, the yew trees do well in moist, sandy soil with slight acidity. Japanese yew displays more cold hardiness than English yew, growing from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 7. The warmer parts of USDA zone 5 support the English yew, notes the University of Connecticut Plant Database, with the tree safely growing from zones 6 and 7. Hicksii handles zones 4 through 7.

Uses

• One of these female evergreen yew trees makes a sensible addition to a bird garden or naturalized area, since birds feed upon the fleshy fruits. Use these yews as foundation plants, planting them on the shady sides of a building. Yew trees work as topiaries and as understory trees on the edges of forests and wooded areas. Hicksii makes a good screen or hedge. It is tolerant of pruning, with the ideal time to do so being in early springtime prior to the development of any new growth.