Solved Can anyone identify this exactly?

Googling, using plant ID sites and staring at the resulting pictures has narrowed it down, but there are many that look very similar: I am not convinced I have found the exact species.

Whatever it turns out to be, it is clearly by nature a 'perpendicularly-oriented' (!) plant: but is there a way to encourage it to broaden out somewhat, does anyone know?

Many thanks,

Martin

 

Looks like a Yew to me.
Used for making bows (as in archery) as they grow vertical.
So not easy to make it bushy.

 

Golden Irish yew.
Its a form of common yew that grows vertically and stays fairly narrow.

Taxus baccata fastigiata aurea.

You really need the non fastigiate types if you want it to be broader, although that will broaden with age, but will always grow upright and slowly.

 

I think these are the same Yew. Looking at Google Earth for when they were planted, they appear to be about 20 years old. The tops get chopped regularly, as they were thirteen feet tall when we moved here three and a half years ago. They are currently about 6ft 6in tall.

 

If left untrimmed, it will broaden out somewhat - my neighbour has one about 25 years old, now around 6 feet in diameter, and 30 feet tall. Still very definitely a columnar tree; very beautiful, in its natural form.

 

Anyone know the easiest way to differentiate between a Yew or Juniper - columnar ? I have one - plain green - which is now approx 35 ft tall - diam of approx 2 ft at the widest and produces the usual small red berries. I live next door to a Churchyard ( where Yews were always popular ) but it also fits the description for a Juniper.

 

Yews have red berries and Juniper fruit looks black.

 

Some yews will be male.
Junipers actually have a juvenile foliage phase I think
But most of the ones I see are not really like yew.

 

Thank you. 'Yew' was my best guess so far - I had been looking at various types, but didn't find one that seemed an exact match. I'll do a bit of research into Golden Irish Yew.

Any care tips for these, especially if the coming winter is cold?

 

Thanks @NigelJ and @pete

 

Just leave it to it.
Not much phases them.

 

Even better! Thank you.

 

Hello again

Several months on and the two plants (as discussed above) are looking rather different from each other. The more yellowish one looks less healthy to my untrained eye (and brain): green is good , brown is bad . Would you agree? If so, how should I treat it? There's been no 'favouritism' between the two - I treat them just the same!

Thank you.

 

No 2 is looking dead.

 

Anything potted needs more care than in the ground @martinlest , and yew likes plenty of moisture, but decent drainage. If it's gone short of water for a period of time, that can be a bridge too far. If that one was a bit pot bound, that can also make it harder for it to establsih and thrive.
There can also be small differences between two sites, even if you think they're in identical positions and conditions. A bit more wind, for example, means that one could have dried out more readily. If you're in a drier part of the country, watering properly is vital.
If they aren't in decent soil [compost alone is no use for long term planting of anything woody] they'll struggle to get going - and keep going.
You could try cutting it back and moving it somewhere more shady and less exposed, and improving the soil mix it's in, but it may not recover well - or at all.