wendy said: Your forum focus seem to imply that conifer-geeks have more input about pruning yews than shrub-geeks. ===>>> so she misses the entire point ... a yew is a conifer.. and must be pruned like a conifer ... it is not a shrub .. and can NOT be pruned as a shrub ... but its you guys that are caught in the semantics.. GW has forums for different types of plants.. and until you learn what kind of plant you are talking about ... you will spend a lot of time.. spinning your wheels ... if you insist on calling a tree a shrub.. well where do you go from there??? if you google pruning shrubs ... you may or may not learn the proper methods .. my dogma as one of you said.. is not about the biological differences of woody perennials or a masters thesis in horticulture like gal seems to think .. its about using the right words.. so that we can have a meaningful conversation about the actual plant the OP has ... i really.. truly ... dont care where anyone posts.. but when one starts a post by calling a conifer a shrub.. it tells me.. the first thing that need be done.. IS TO CLARIFY WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ... the OP learns nothing useful .. if we let her stay confused about the common term shrub ... now in the case of a yew.. well frankly.. its just about the only conifer you can prune like i prune most flowering shrubs.. which involves starting by running it over with a truck.. and cutting off the rest ... IT JUST DOESNT MATTER... but had she a pine tree ... and you let her keep calling it a shrub.. [like my dad did, by the way] ... and she googles pruning shrubs.. well it will be dead in no time ... [for dad, everything in front of the house .. was a shrub] as a recovering atty by trade.. UNLESS you define what the heck you are talking about.. arguing about it is useless .. like most of all this ... and gal.. i am getting really tired of your personal attacks on just about everything i post ... if you had you way.. we should just change this to GalWeb.. and be done with it .. SG .. just do whatever you want.. and it will either turn into what you want.. or it will become so ugly you can get rid of it w/o remorse ... [ i suppose Gal will argue that point also, and if i am lucky.. call me stupid while doing it] ken

you wait until spring has spring.. to see what buds out... and you cut out stuff that does not bud out.. as it is dead ... cutting back to a live branch.. it WILL fill back in .. though it might take a year or two ... it is not a bug issue ... and you should move it to at least 3 feet out from that corner ... you should always leave a 2 to 3 foot empty spot along your foundation.. so you can clean gutters .. clean windows.. get a ladder in there.. clean windows ... and in this case.. fix the downspout in the future ... never forget... foundation plantings are planted to hide the foundation .. not ON the foundation... you have provided no space.. for future growth.. by placing them what looks to be.. 6 inches from the brick ... good luck ken

there is nothing 'noble' about a poorly sited [if they are too close to the house or in too much shade] .. way past maturity ... ugly plants .. as the focal point of your new house ... it would be one thing if they were out back.. and you liked tinkering in the garden .. doing some experiments.. etc .... but you describe them as : rangy and thin yews in a shady spot out front with rather poor, dry soil. They are frankly an eyesore where do you go from there?? when considering then focal point of the front of your new castle ... ... the best investment you ever make to the front of your new house.. will be getting rid of them ... now.. just keep that in the back of your mind... if you want to experiment for 3 to 5 years.. to try to rejuvenate them.. all the power to ya .... do not amend soil under conifers ... nor at planting .... mulch never hurt anything ... and proper watering is never a harm .... and never fertilize a conifer.. unless a soil test shows something is lacking .... if they are anywhere near a fertilized lawn.. they will get everything they need you can do either amending .. or fert'ing ... but it isnt going to solve any problem you are having with theses plants ... they will never fill in ... and you are going to have a bunch of ugly stumps where you made the cuts .. while they 'try' to recover ... only a picture would change my mind.. and there would have to be something really spectacular about them .... something i have never seen before.... to change my mind ... and if you give me a buck.. i will tell what i really think .. rotflmbo ..... i wish you all the luck in the world with your new house .... good luck ken

Cindylou, never heard of the term Cap and Dense yews, but then again I'm on the other side of the pond. Yews in general should work well, also Tsuga canadensis cultivars might be worth a go if not too dry. I'm sure others here will have more idea with regards to your heat and humidity requirements.