What’s happening to my Yews?

[Catname]

We’re growing a Yew hedge. A couple of the original plants had to be replaced and now are a very different colour to the majority. They don’t appear to be crispy brown leaves (yet? hopefully not 🤞) just very differently coloured.

Do I need to be feeding them something to get them to green up or have I inadvertently bought a different variety?

They are on clay, on a slope that does get pretty wet at times and gets sun from around 1pm. They have grown around a foot since planting but now appear very different.

Bumping this OP, hopefully a Yew expert will come along to enlighten us!

Much appreciated 2024 😊

There has been a spate of mystery disease affecting yews over the last year. You could try spraying with a fungicide (rose clear or similar), and get it under the fronds as well as from above. Leave it a week, and then dose with a foliar feed of seaweed made up according to packet instructions. Then cross your fingers and hope for the best. I had one that was downright orange this time last year, and it is now a nice green again.

Also, look up images of 'scale insect' online, and inspect the branches very closely to see if you can spot any. They are very well camouflaged, and could be covered in them without you knowing. They can be treated with a systemic insecticide, or if there are only a few, picked off one by one.

Thanks @Yamadori, I’ll have a rummage in the shed and see what I’ve got. Reassuring that sometimes orangeness isn’t the end.

I think the brown ones are goners I'm afraid. Yew's are very susceptible to water stress, either too much or too little and they'll go brown like this.

If all the others are healthy then a replacement plant will probably survive if watered appropriately.

Phytophera.

Especially virulent in wet ground.

Improve drainage, coffee grounds and replant if necessary.

You could just be asking too much of those young yew plants. It looks as though they are competing with a massive Leylandii hedge and the grass they are growing in. They are also planted very close together so fighting for the same nutrients and space. Couple that with heavy wet soil and I think it's no surprise some are struggling.

I volunteer for the National Trust and when we plant yews we always plant a little section of extra yews in a nursery so that if, or rather when, we lose a plant or two we can replace them if necessary.

You could also mulch the area around them with compost to give them a boost and help them out compete the grass. In my opinion the yews are definitely too close to the big hedge - that will always be a battle between two very hungry, thirsty plants.

Rose Clear and other such stuff is full of chemicals that will kill all the insects, even the beneficial ones that visit your plants. I'd avoid them if at all possible and let a natural system develop that will protect these plants.

We knew there was a fair chance of them being affected by how wet the garden can be because of the clay so slit planted bare root which was supposed to be less likely to be overwhelmed - but perhaps it’s just a bit too wet and this winter hasn’t helped with that. The ones that are doing well are romping away.

I agree the grass could be cleared out, so I can look at that and the extra compost, but these yews are a long term plan to replace the leylandii hedge. At the time we planted, we discussed installing some form of drainage to help the run off but, for the sake of neighbourly relations, decided against it because of the fall of the land (sloping on two planes).

I’ll see how they fare, and look to create a bit of a mound to replant in if necessary.