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Capitata Japanese Yew
Taxus cuspidata 'Capitata'
Also called upright japanese yew, pyramidal yew, japanese upright yew and capitata yew
Capitata Japanese Yew is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, giving the garden structure and color all season long.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Capitata Japanese Yew
Plant it in part sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–7. Expect it to reach about 10 ft tall and 5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 12 years (a house reading).
No toxicity note is on file for Capitata Japanese Yew. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Capitata Japanese Yew
Plant Capitata Japanese Yew in spring once the soil is workable, or by very early fall at the latest: an evergreen needs its roots down well before the ground freezes. In zone 5, the middle of its hardy zones 4 to 7, that is April to June, or August on the fall side.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 5, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 5 in April. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Capitata Japanese Yew get?
10 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult5 ftwideSee Capitata Japanese Yew in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Capitata Japanese Yew
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Capitata Japanese Yew about 5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Capitata Japanese Yew to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Capitata Japanese Yew's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 10 published sources on September 26, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources. Bloom was checked as well: Capitata Japanese Yew bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- Purdue ArboretumExplorerheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, trait tags, soil, pests and toxicity
- plants.chaletnursery.comChalet Nursery (NetPS Plant Finder entry)height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil and toxicity
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxsun, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- trees.umn.eduUniversity of Minnesota Urban Forestry Outreach and Researchheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and diseases
- plants.natorp.comNatorp's Nurseryheight, spread, sun, water and trait tags
- plants.jimwhitingnursery.comJim Whiting Nursery and Garden Centerheight, spread, hardiness zones and sun
- conifersociety.orgAmerican Conifer Society, Conifer Trees Databaseheight and trait tags
- The Morton Arboretum(Lisle, Illinois), Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) pagesun
- woodyplants.cals.cornell.edutrait tags
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.