Golden Yew Varieties

Yellowing

• Yews are sometimes planted alongside acid-loving landscaping plants, such as azalea, rhododendron and laurel. These plants thrive in soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5, whereas yew does best in more neutral, sweet soil from 6.0 to 6.5. To fertilize those other shrubs correctly means fertilizing yew incorrectly, the result being an overall yellowing of yew foliage. Neutralize the acidifying effect of incorrect fertilizer by applying ground limestone all around the yew, about 3 lbs. per 100 square feet, repeating the treatment every 3 years.

Dwarf Bright Gold

• Hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 4, Dwarf Bright Gold yew (Taxus cuspidata "Dwarf Bright Gold") is a Japanese yew growing 4 to 6 feet and slightly wider in mounding form. The golden color here, most intense in fall, comes from vertical yellow and green needle striations. Dwarf Bright Gold is useful for foundation plantings.

Dwarf Golden Japanese

• A small Japanese yew, Dwarf Golden (T. cuspidata "Nana Aurescens") starts out golden in spring. Its new foliage emerges bright gold and stays gold for about a year, in contrast with older branches of chartreuse needles. Growing to 3 feet tall and spreading to 6 feet at maturity, Dwarf Golden is a good foundation or border plant. Dwarf Golden is male cultivar, producing no fall berries, and is hardy to zone 4.

Golden Irish

• Growing slowly to 25 feet tall, pyramidal Golden Irish yew (T. baccata "Fastigiata Aurea") is excellent for dense yard borders and tall privacy hedges but also striking as a specimen or topiary plant. New growth emerges golden in spring, but otherwise foliage is delicate, fernlike and green with gold edging. Its leaves turn chartreuse in fall. A female cultivar, Golden Irish also produces red berries in fall if there are any male yews nearby for pollen. Golden Irish is hardy to zone 6.

Standishii

• A column-shaped golden English yew growing to 7 feet tall, the Standishii yew (T. baccata "Standishii") is a slow-growing cultivar with 1-inch needles that are light yellow on the top side. The needles are close together on shoots for a dense effect. Because this cultivar is strictly female, if there are any male yews in the neighborhood to provide pollen, the plants produce red berrylike drupes in fall. Standishii is hardy to zone 5.

Summergold

• A slow- and low-growing English yew that tolerates full sun better than most, Summergold (T. baccata "Summergold") is gold in summer, but otherwise needles mature to medium green with gold borders, attached to gold stems. Hardy to zone 6, Summergold grows to 3 or 4 feet tall and spreads 9 or 10 feet wide. These plants tolerate moderate wind and heavy frost.