Talkback: Growing a yew hedge

Hi Kate when we moved here in 2002 we had a yew hedge one side of our back garden 16 feet tall 7 feet thick,not quite a hedge more like a wood,The person we bought the house from said it was only 25 years old and only had the top cut out or it may have been taller,On the other side was a Leyland ii hedge the same size,We gained 14 feet more garden when they were cut down and replaced with shrubs ,Now out of control,I have found a grove of Oaks trees thanks to the Jay. Old chippy

someone at the top of the hill has a lovely clipped yew and it looks lovely all year round and it produces berries as well.obviously keeping the evil sprites away from the front door!

I started some yew cuttings off last year and am pleased to see some of them have survived the Winter. I would like to experiment with doing some topiary with these as they grow and I have raised some Holly cuttings too with the same idea. It's going to take me a while to do this but like many people these days I am gardening on a budget.
I wrote in some years ago to Christopher Llloyd about his topiary article in The Guardian asking how this was done and he suggested his Father's book (Nathaniel Lloyd)"Garden Craftsmanship in Yew and Box" which is an inspiring read. I can certainly recommend it. David.

hello we have an old yew tree in front of house,it lets enough light to the ground but wondered what to grow underneath, obviously its dry but is the ground acidic from the needles?