Yew hedging issue

Hello all,

new in the forum and need some advice on some yew hedging.

I planted some rootball yew hedging in December 2019. They were planted in fresh careened topsoil and mushroom compost at a rate of around 20% mushroom compost.

In the last month I have noticed some small branches if this is the correct terminology turning brown and dying off.
I have also noticed this happening on some of the needles/leafs.
The confusing part about this for me is it is happening in varying places on some of the trees, there is no pattern to this at all and most are not affected at all.

The other very confusing thing with this is that they are all showing new growth some more than others but the all seem to be doing very well, I do not want this browning to continue or spread, so any advice on the issue would be very useful.

I would also like to add I have earlier this week forked in some blood fish and bone to the top couple of inches of soil and have been making sure that any weeds are removed every couple of weeks. I have been watering every week during the recent dry spell I did not want to overdo the watering as I know they do not appreciate wet feet. Again any help/advice on watering frequency would be beneficial.

I have attached some images for people to have a look at.

Last image showing new growth as mentioned above.

All of this could well be nothing and normal whilst yew is establishing but any help and advice would be brilliant. Thank you.

 

Hi @Markb24

Sorry can't help you but is this of any good to you.Why Is My Yew Hedge Not Growing Properly - GrowerExperts.com

 

I wouldn't worry about them , evergreens do tend to lose some leaves in spring . I would just cut the yellowing branches off and discard them.

 

I think they look fine

Because they were rootballed the roots won't have ventured far, yet. The soil in the rootball is probably very different to yours (and they may have been severely root-pruned when the rootballiing was done). Therefore very important to get water into the original rootball. I wouldn't worry about wet-feet, unless you have really poor drainage, I would concentrate on getting water right to the heart of each plant's rootball. Personally I would use leaky hose along the length of the hedge, tucked close in to the plants as it passes them, or if you like turning one-circle around each plant (peg down with a short length of old fence wire, bent to the shape of a hairpin, or cable-tied to itself to retain the circle) and then continue to next plant - to get a circle of watering right at the base of each plant. I would also cover the row with a mulch, I think woven weed suppressing membrane works well - looks ugly though, but can be covered with bark if it needs to look smart (I prefer nothing because whatever is put on top is enough to allow weed seeds to anchor and germinate, but if it is a short row then maintenance won't take long.)

I would water for 30 minutes on leaky hose, twice a week this year. They've been in since December and its been a mild winter, so they should have made some root growth in that time, but I would make sure they are well watered. Don't want to make them dependent on that (otherwise all their root will form at the surface where they find abundant water! and that layer dries out when the sun comes out of course), but I'd cut them some slack the first year and make sure of it.