I am really concerned about the yew hedges surrounding my porch. They used
to be full and green all through the bushes but the green part has now
diminished to the point that the only green part of the bushes are the 4 or
5 inches around the outside of the bushes. Other than that, the bushes are
now hollow - completely void of green.

The yews look pretty good if you just look at them from the outside. they
are all about 5 feet tall and are full of berries (which hasn't been as
common in years past). Also, they are now starting to get overrun with
yellow jackets, which is really scary. Could the yellow jackets be
attracted to them because they are not healthy, or could they be *causing*
them to be unhealthy?

What is the problem with my yews, and how can I address it?

Thanks,
LT

"Larry Travis" wrote in message
...
I am really concerned about the yew hedges surrounding my porch. They
used
to be full and green all through the bushes but the green part has now
diminished to the point that the only green part of the bushes are the 4
or
5 inches around the outside of the bushes. Other than that, the bushes
are
now hollow - completely void of green.

The yews look pretty good if you just look at them from the outside. they
are all about 5 feet tall and are full of berries (which hasn't been as
common in years past). Also, they are now starting to get overrun with
yellow jackets, which is really scary. Could the yellow jackets be
attracted to them because they are not healthy, or could they be *causing*
them to be unhealthy?

What is the problem with my yews, and how can I address it?


Good day Larry. It's quite diffucult to answer your concerns without all the
information about your yews. Information such as :
age of yews, location of the yews (planting zone/state), any changes of the
enviroment (new construction near by, extra rain ect).
Yews are known to have some problems with fungal diseases sush as
phytophthora root rot (what a mouth full 'eh?) and some issues
with scale insects. You may also be looking at normal internal die off due
to age and size.
What I would tend to do....
Clean out the yews. Use a leafblower and blow out all the dead neddles and
the like. Rake up afterwards and discard. Look at the dead and live
needles with a magnifying glass to see if you spot fungus spores or insects.
I highly doubt that the wasps are doing any damage to you yews.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult...ru/probyew.htm
http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/

"Larry Travis" wrote in message
...
I am really concerned about the yew hedges surrounding my porch. They
used
to be full and green all through the bushes but the green part has now
diminished to the point that the only green part of the bushes are the 4
or
5 inches around the outside of the bushes. Other than that, the bushes
are
now hollow - completely void of green.

The yews look pretty good if you just look at them from the outside. they
are all about 5 feet tall and are full of berries (which hasn't been as
common in years past). Also, they are now starting to get overrun with
yellow jackets, which is really scary. Could the yellow jackets be
attracted to them because they are not healthy, or could they be *causing*
them to be unhealthy?

What is the problem with my yews, and how can I address it?


Good day Larry. It's quite diffucult to answer your concerns without all the
information about your yews. Information such as :
age of yews, location of the yews (planting zone/state), any changes of the
enviroment (new construction near by, extra rain ect).
Yews are known to have some problems with fungal diseases sush as
phytophthora root rot (what a mouth full 'eh?) and some issues
with scale insects. You may also be looking at normal internal die off due
to age and size.
What I would tend to do....
Clean out the yews. Use a leafblower and blow out all the dead neddles and
the like. Rake up afterwards and discard. Look at the dead and live
needles with a magnifying glass to see if you spot fungus spores or insects.
I highly doubt that the wasps are doing any damage to you yews.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult...ru/probyew.htm
http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/

"tim" wrote:
Clean out the yews. Use a leafblower and blow out all the dead neddles
and the like. Rake up afterwards and discard. Look at the dead and live
needles with a magnifying glass to see if you spot fungus spores or
insects. I highly doubt that the wasps are doing any damage to you yews.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult...ru/probyew.htm
http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/

...And don't forget to fertilize lightly after you're done. In
fact, those yews may have a certain amount of acidity needs.

(i'm too lazy to look up their ph requirements)

If they do like a little acid, try some 'muracid' on them.

--
http://NewsReader.Com/
50 GB/Month

"tim" wrote:
Clean out the yews. Use a leafblower and blow out all the dead neddles
and the like. Rake up afterwards and discard. Look at the dead and live
needles with a magnifying glass to see if you spot fungus spores or
insects. I highly doubt that the wasps are doing any damage to you yews.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult...ru/probyew.htm
http://pep.wsu.edu/hortsense/

...And don't forget to fertilize lightly after you're done. In
fact, those yews may have a certain amount of acidity needs.

(i'm too lazy to look up their ph requirements)

If they do like a little acid, try some 'muracid' on them.

--
http://NewsReader.Com/
50 GB/Month

wrote in message
...
..And don't forget to fertilize lightly after you're done. In
fact, those yews may have a certain amount of acidity needs.

(i'm too lazy to look up their ph requirements)

If they do like a little acid, try some 'muracid' on them.

Yews ph range is 5.5 to 7.0 . If ph was an issue the yews would (imho) have
an over all yellowing and uniformed needle drop.
Here's a nice page on tree ph range......
http://www.bonsai4me.com/AdvTech/AT%...h%20ranges.htm