Hi Ginny - I've done this with unnamed yews, and I can't swear that Hicks will behave the same as mine. I was getting rid of meatballs - you know the type - I cut them to the ground, and let them come back to a more natural shape. It worked really, really well. Better to have a tiny but full hedge than a skinny taller one, no?

Do it, and do it soon.
DtD

Hey DTD--It was full and a nice solid green wall til the rats with antlers showed up. I'm going to do it--just trying to figure how short. I'm glad to hear yours came back. Thanks for sharing your results.

I cut mine to something like 3 inches - I may have tred to leave a couple of needles on each but wasn't always sucessful. There seem to be nodes VERY close to the ground that can produce new shoots.

Rats with antlers - great term.

Just curious...how do you leave needles on *and* cut back to 3 inches? I posted on another thread about wanting to cut my yews way back also, but all the growth is in the inch or so at the end of the branches. Everything below that is bare sticks. Am I missing something?

Here is a link that might be useful: My yew pruning thread

My "sticks" have sparse needles up and down their entire length, so I know the wood is live. You can also scratch the bark with your fingernail and if you see green underneath, then the wood is live. BUT these things are not filling out as I want them to, so that's why I want to cut them back. DTD has cut hers almost to the ground. The roots are alive and threw out new growth, despite the fact that the sticks with needles were removed. So this does work for yews, tho there are many shrubs it would kill or damage. In other words, you don't need to leave any needled branches to get new growth from the roots and short stubs. HTH.

Thanks... I'm soooo nervous, but would like to start over w/ smaller bushes in an attempt to get a more natural looking shape. DH will not be happy if I kill them off! ;-)

Then you don't have to cut that drastically. You can cut very hard--a foot or more--til you get them where you want them. I have done very hard pruning with yews and with proper care, they come back great. I spread 10-10-10 fertilizer heavily in the spring, and also give them a dose of Miracid liquid fertilizer several times in the spring and early summer. This stimulates new growth and helps counteract the effects of the drastic pruning. I'm a gardener, not a scientist, but this has worked for me.

Yes, cut them back almost to the ground, they will do fine. I rather think they like it.

Thanks, you all are giving me more confidence... If I can't get DH to go for drastic measures, I will at least start moving in the right direction. I have one meatball and four boxes. ;-)

Well, the deed is done. My hedge of Hicks yews is cut back to 12" and is pretty scary looking. I fertilized heavily with 10-10-10 and will give a booster of Miracid as well. I'll let you know what happens.

These are the hardiest, strongest plants we i grow. I have never seen deer it it. They must be starving

Yews are one of deer's favorite plants, maybe the all-time favorite. Arborvitae is another. They are the first shrubs deer go for. This is widely reported all over the US. And the deer are fat and sassy and ever-increasing in numbers.

An update on this old thread where I was the OP. My experiment failed. The yews never came back despite tender care. I finally cut them to the soil level--roots almost impossible to get out--and replaced them with cheap forsythias. Not a great trade-off but all I can do with this huge deer population. Depressing.