Illustration
Japanese Yew
Taxus cuspidata
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 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 10 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 12 years (not yet checked).
No toxicity note is on file for 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 Japanese Yew
Plant 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 Japanese Yew get?
10 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult10 ftwideSee 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 Japanese Yew
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Japanese Yew about 10 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add 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
Japanese Yew's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 8 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: Japanese Yew bears no flowers, so there is no bloom window for a source to carry.
- NC State ExtensionPlant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- The Morton Arboretumheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- plantdatabase.uconn.eduUniversity of Connecticut Plant Databaseheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, soil, diseases and pests
- Purdue ArboretumPurdue University Arboretum Explorerheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, soil, pests and toxicity
- campustrees.umn.eduUniversity of Minnesota Campus Treesheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, diseases and toxicity
- conifersociety.orgAmerican Conifer Society Conifer Databaseheight and hardiness zones
- ASPCAAnimal Poison Control Centertoxicity
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
3 more varieties in the Yew group
Same genus, similar care - pick the one you are growing.
Compare every variety in the Yew group
Every figure is the variety's own page fact. Tap a name to open it.
| Variety | Color | Blooms | Hardiness | Sun | Size (H × W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitata | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–7 | Part sun | 10 ft × 5 ft |
| Densiformis | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–7 | Part sun | 3 ft × 5.5 ft |
| Hicks | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–7 | Full sun | 19 ft × 7.5 ft |
| Japanesethis page | Foliage | Foliage plant | Zones 4–7 | Part sun | 10 ft × 10 ft |
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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.