Time to think about (Yew) trees...

The Yew (Taxus baccata) tree is one of our most splendid, sacred and ancient trees that we have in England.

The yew is coniferous (does not lose it leaves) and is a very slow growing tree. It is therefore one of the hardest woods and is often sought out by wood carvers.

There are specimens in this country that are over 2000 years old and many may be much older. Most churchyards will have an ancient yew in the churchyard as the Yew was a sacred tree for pagans and churches were built on pagan places of worship to assist in the conversion of pagans to Christianity.

Part of the reason for the pagans’ celebration of the yew was due to the toxic nature of the tree. Almost all of the tree is poisonous and should not be ingested; in fact the word toxic is derived from the Latin name, Taxus. Therefore the yew symbolised death, or more specifically transcendence, the transformation following death into another life. As they are evergreen, they do not experience the annual “death” of autumn and they are also long lived and ancient. In some ways the perfect symbolic tree: life and death. This may have lead to the yew being a communal meeting place for pagan celebrations.

Further to the pagan connection with death, there is a more physical connection with the yew tree and death: the English longbow was made from yew. The longbow was a very effective weapon: One story told in medieval times was that an arrow fired from a long bow could penetrate four inches into oak. Recent tests have shown that this anecdote is true when the arrow is fired close up. From 200 metres, a longbow arrow penetrated over one inch of solid oak – more than sufficient power to penetrate the armour worn by soldiers.

In Sussex we are lucky enough to have Kingley Vale (www.kingleyvale.co.uk) and ancient yew woodland, a beautiful and wonderful place to visit, just north of Chichester. Not only does it have a mixed woodland, interspersed with ancient yews (some possibly over 2000 years old all free to get close up (and climb) to the oldest living trees in this country) but in another section there is a yew woodland full of only yews, a truly unique place to visit.

The yew can also make a great hedge, with regular twice annual hedge cutting, a lovely tight hedge can be obtained and can make a lovely addition to your garden.

The best advice for maintaining the yew tree in your garden is:
Leave it alone, if it has any dead wood in the tree, do not worry, it probably will not fall out.

If you have pets or young children in your house – teach them to not eat any parts of the tree and clear up any leaves on the ground.

Enjoy it. It was around long before you and hopefully will be around for many more years to come

Simon Zec
Treedom Tree Surgery
www.treedomsussex.co.uk

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