Shall I get rid of yew tree?

[RestorationInsanity]

We've got a large yew in the front garden. It's pushing the front wall over, and the wall needs to be replaced. It hasn't been well looked after and was hideously chopped into an enormous 6 foot by 8 foot cube and we have been trying to return it to more of a natural shape. We could have some iron fence in front of the yew, and then a wall following on from that, or should we just cut our losses and get rid of the yew and start again?

Bad luck will follow.

Do you have children? I would get rid of it with young children.

I would get rid of it with young children. You'd have a hard job to rid the garden of everything poisonous. Unless it's a female, it won't have berries and I wouldn't have thought the leaves looked particularly appetising to a small child. Presumably children won't be allowed on their own in the front garden until they are of an age when they can be trusted "not to eating anything without showing mummy first".

How near the window is it. They are very thick, dark trees. I would remove it. You could always plant a new one elsewhere if you feel guilty.

We don't especially want to remove it, I'm not keen on removing trees, especially native ones, unless they're causing a genuine problem, but we can't have nothing in front of it, as it's right on the edge of the pavement and the soil level around the yew is higher than the pavement. Not sure if the yew would appreciate having its roots uncovered.

We have a large back garden and are keen gardeners so we will need to teach our child (due in December) not to eat things in the garden without checking. It does have berries and I am aware of how poisonous yews are to humans and some animals.

It's not a concern from a light perspective in the house as it's on the driveway. The wall is a safety issue, it's falling down, and it won't be possible to rebuild in front of the yew, as the yew is pushing the wall out in front of it. So it's just a question of can something be built in front of the yew to contain it/protect its roots from being uncovered, or if it's not likely to cope with that, is it better to remove it before having the wall built?

I would remove a yew tree from my garden.

My first reaction was Noooooo! I love an ancient Yew Tree - they can live for 1000 years

But having seen the photo - yes I would get rid - it is not an old one or growing in a particuarly lovely way.
Get rid and plant something nicer - a multi stemmed silver birch maybe (jacquemonitii has a lovely white stem in winter and nice green leaves in summer, fading to a yellow in Autumn) or my current favourite tree - a sorbus hypehensis (pink pagoda) - white blossom, then creamy pink berries going a lovely pink in November with matching bluey/ green leaves - underplant with bulbs or a silver leafed small shrub - lovely!!

Please don’t plant a Jacquemontii birch as sashagabadon suggests! They grow to 30 meters tall! I have one in my average size back garden, planted 27 years ago, and it’s very large. I had the crown reduced a few years ago, but it has grown just as big as before.

But I agree with taking out the yew, it’s in a bad place next to the wall, so best dug out.

The overall consensus seems to be wrong tree in the wrong place, something the previous owners had form for unfortunately (conifer growing over the external vent of a fireplace that had been blocked up inside for example!) I'm considering a spindle tree (love native trees/bushes!) but like the sound of the sorbus. We have sorbus aria and sorbus aucuparia in the back garden.

We have a silver birch in the back garden, but it's far enough away from any houses etc. I have zoomed in for the photo, but it's about 5 m from where the yew tree is to any part of the house or garage.

Also, I know the whole photo is hideous, we're in the middle of major building work!

@NanTheWiser

Please don’t plant a Jacquemontii birch as sashagabadon suggests! They grow to 30 meters tall! I have one in my average size back garden, planted 27 years ago, and it’s very large. I had the crown reduced a few years ago, but it has grown just as big as before.

But I agree with taking out the yew, it’s in a bad place next to the wall, so best dug out.

My one is max 8 meters. I think the newer ones are bred to be smaller

Could you replant it in a better location in your garden where you can enjoy it more?

Sorry is that to me or to the PP with the problematic birch tree?

You can cut yew right back low, literally to a short stump, and it will regrow. You can then prune it to whatever shape you like.

If you decide to take it out, then please (!!!!) don't chuck it away, contact your local bonsai society and someone will be overjoyed to have it. Native yew with a large stump is highly sought-after as bonsai material. Let them come and dig it up though.

@yamadori it's not just the shape that's the problem unfortunately, if it was I'd be happy to persevere. But it's growing on the boundary and knocking the wall over (you can't see that from that angle). Thank you for the advice about use as a bonsai tree though. If we do take it out I will try and ensure it goes to a good home! I think we will start by taking the wall down in front of the yew first though, and see what it's like/whether it can be left exposed on the boundary.

If you need pointing in the general direction of a bonsai club, PM me your approximate area and I'll look one up for you.

I was going to say that I love Yews but that tree is just SHIT

It should have tried harder

@LaurieFairyCake that made me laugh! In its defence it had been repeatedly massacred by previous owners over many years (much like the rest of the garden). There are lots of lovely yews in gardens around us, ours sadly isn't one of them. We do have some spectacular 20-30 foot holly trees in the back garden though which I love!

@yamadori that would be great, I'll send you a message.