pruning yews

Why you yew ewe you.

It would be better to prune it back in the spring when the new growth is coming out.

Do it now and all you will have is ugly naked branches all winter.

In the mean time, you should just trim back the foliage.

so i take it that one can indeed prune a yew back to bare wood, and green growth will sprout? just need to confirm that.

i'll definitely wait until spring.

thanks,

-eric

Cereus-validus-........... wrote:

I pruned back 3 old yews about 10 inches deep to get access to the house wall.

I did this in June 05, and all 3 yews had major 'yellow foliage' summer die off...

They are coming back to 95% green as of now... The other 7 adjacent 'house wall'

yews I did not cut stayed a perfect Green....

There may be a season not to cut yews back to bare wood ?? OR I induced a

yew disease via the wet/sappy end cuts....

eric zwicky wrote in news:1q-dnWfD0OS9f8renZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Yews are one of the only conifers that will bud back from bare wood. Having said that, it is always wise to leave at least some green growth when hard pruning. The tree should be in excellent health and timing is important-- early spring is an excellent time for hard pruning yews.

excellent! that's exactly what i need to know. thanks a lot,

-eric

eric zwicky wrote in news:xIKdnf_vh4kSysveRVn- snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Eric,

You can drastically prune yews back to bare wood and expect backbudding, however the yews have to be very healthy and you do risk some dieback. It's better to cut back in stages, always retaining some green growth.