Yew Not "Ew"

If I were to list all my gardening pet peeves, 1) this would be a very long post 2) I would run out of adjectives and, 3) I'm certain someone reading would disagree with each and every one of them.  What bothers some, does not bother others.  For instance, when I look at houses with absolutely no landscaping whatsoever, not even so much as an obligatory foundation planting, I get a cold shiver and a creepy uninvited feeling, like vampires are afoot, and the house is just a daytime coffin.  However, others might look at the same house and think, "awesome, low maintenance".

While looking for examples of what I call "crimes against the yew bush", I brought my cell phone along with me on a lunch time walk to take photos of those "yews" that I find to be "ews".  On my first day I saw some great examples, but it was sunny out and a lot of people were home so I was afraid to take photos worried I'd be accosted by someone demanding to know why I was paparazzing their domicile (for all I know these people weren't at work for some other reason besides lunch).  But the next day, I got a little braver and tried to look like I was checking my messages on my cell, while I was actually taking photos.

This first yew pictured here is a victim of bad trimming.  I really dislike the "flat top" method of pruning a shrub like the yew.  Are they planning on having a picnic on it?  There are probably three yew bushes lined up in a row in this image, but you cannot tell where one begins and another ends. I'm sure someone just hauled out an electric or gas powered hedge trimmer and took one pass over the top and said "done".  While I am all for low maintenance, this is just plain lazy and does nothing to enhance the house, the yard, or the people who live there.  I get so disappointed in those who trim in this way, I wonder if we shouldn't require a written test and a permit for use of hedge trimmers, much in the same way we do for the operator of a motor vehicle?   I suppose it could be worse, however...

Here is an image of "worse".  This image shows a couple of poor bushes being attacked by unweeded maples.  Though you may not be able to see it clearly from this photo, there are several small trees growing throughout the yew bushes.  There isn't room for all of them, and the small trees seem quite large already, since maples are fast growing and can seed like wildfire.  Best to mulch under shrubs and keep weeds (like tree seedlings) easy to pull out in the early stages than try to get them when the roots have taken a firm hold.  Now, the roots of both may be too intertwined.

This next photo shows two yew bushes that have not been trimmed, perhaps ever, and while they appear now to be getting a bit leggy, I actually prefer this look to the first image I posted where over trimming is the crime.  This problem, well, I see it as a problem, although the home owners may just like the street privacy, is the easiest to fix.  Thinning a few branches here and there, giving the yew a rounded, more controlled, shape, and allowing the trimmed branches to thicken a little, would make these two shrubs refreshed and quite pretty.

I feel like the above image is a "Where's Waldo?".  If you can easily spot the two yew bushes, then it is because you are really looking.  The rhododendron takes center stage, and really there is no need to distract from it with two badly trimmed yew bushes off to the side, so I would just remove them.  If they are small, they could be relocated, if not, well, less work for the home owner.

Now a very personal example of good yew bushes gone bad.  When we bought our house in 2001, this is what it looked like (this is the city's online tax image, I was in no hurry to take photos of our lackluster exterior). As mentioned in one of my most early posts, the yew bushes probably lasted for one week, maybe two, before I looked at the better half and begged relief from the eyesore.  There were seven badly trimmed yew bushes that added nothing to the charm of the house.  Frankly, I found the house pretty charmless anyway, inside and out, built by the neighborhood contractor in 1972 so that he could live and work in the same area.  He cut every corner, and I actually doubt he planted anything in the yard at all.  These shrubs in the photo were still quite small in 2001 and may have been planted after the house was vinyl sided (sometime, I believe, in the 1980s).

This is our house in 2008.  We have changed the shutters and windows since this photo was taken and the false cypress boulevard is now higher than the gutters, but essentially you get the idea.  With some well thought out landscaping, a house and yard can become a welcoming, colorful playground, where you can enjoy the view inside and out.  (Case and point, that lovely snowdrift flowering crab also looks beautiful when viewed from the living room window, even on a rainy day.)  You may also notice that mulch replaced the grass.  We lost a well fight battle with grubs and decided to plant ground cover and fill in with mulch.  It is far less maintenance than grass and I like the look of "park" in the front more than high maintenance green carpet.  

In closing, if you like yew bushes because they are evergreen and easy to grow, just thin them when needed and resist the urge to make them look like shipping boxes or picnic tables.