Kitchen Garden Forum

Apart from the ground being dry, the shade and the possible lack of nutrients as possible reasons as to why not grow vegetables beside a yew tree. Are there any other reasons why not to. I know the seeds bark and needles are poisonous but I am wondering are there any secretions from the roots? Would this be taken up by vegetable roots??

Hi IDYG,
Yew tree leaves are quite acidic and I have 5 very old specimens trees growing across the front of my property and one assumes that they were planted when the house was built. This date is unknown but the house, but probably not the original, is on the first map of Herefordshire cira 1500. In this time they have turned the soil beneath them to acid whereas the rest of the property is PH7 and under the Yews PH4.5 or there abouts. The thing that grows well under them are Rhodo's and not much else. I do not think there is anything untoward secreted from the roots. I wouldn't grow anything directly below them but test you soil for acidity prior to commencing.

Hello idig - we've got a large yew tree which has a raised circular bed built around and edged with old rocks. Is that a possibility for you? We don't use ours for veg, but have hyacinth bulbs, an alpine or two and flowering annuals under it. They are doing well (loads of cosmea self-sets coming up now), but it really gets very dry, very quickly. In summer, despite the dappled shade the bed is under, it needs a good soaking every day or second day at least, to keep the plants thriving. We are slowly turning ours into more of an alpine garden to reduce the watering requirements. I have never fed anything under there, apart from tipping on wood ash, because I couldn't be bothered walking down to the veg patch to empty it.

Because of the acidity, you wouldn't want brassicas under there, potatoes you couldn't dig because of the tree roots, etc., but perhaps you could try some lettuce or mixed leaves? I think you would have to be prepared to do a lot of watering and regular feeding though.