English Yew Tiered Pom Pom Standard Topiary Specimen - Isolde
1 of 1 — the exact plant in the photographs. When it’s sold, it’s gone.
Inspected, photographed for your approval and rootball measured before dispatch.
Quick Specifications
Meet Isolde
Care & Maintenance
Botanical Specifications
Guides to Help You Plan
One of one,and this is the one.
Six things that come with the plant in the photographs.
N° 01
The exact plant
The plant in the photographs is the plant you receive — not one like it, not the next in the row. Each specimen is a single, unique plant: quantity one. When it's sold, it's gone.
N° 02
A field-grown rootball
Grown in open ground and clipped over many years by specialist family growers in Europe, then lifted with its rootball wrapped in hessian and wire. The wrapping stays on when you plant. English yew is hardy to −20°C.
N° 03
Inspected, photographed, measured
Before dispatch, your piece is inspected, photographed for your approval and its rootball measured — so you see it as it stands just before it travels, and know how wide to dig: twice the rootball's width, and no deeper.
N° 04
HIAB crane delivery
Every specimen travels on a HIAB crane lorry, which lifts the rootball off and sets it down within reach of where it's going. Distance and access decide the cost, so it's quoted to your postcode.
N° 05
Founder-direct
Horatio quotes every specimen personally. One invoice covers the piece and its crane delivery, with a secure payment link — no sales desk in between.
N° 06
Lifetime Care
Send a photograph or a question whenever you need to, for as long as the plant is yours: grower answers within 24 hours — forever, free. No expiry date, and no limit on how often you ask.
Three steps,one conversation.
How a one-off piece goes from this page into your ground.
01
Enquire with your postcode
Use the enquiry form at the top of this page with the postcode where the plant will go. Tell us about the way in, too: lane and gateway widths, overhead cables or branches, slopes, and how close a lorry can stand to the planting spot. The delivery quote is built on exactly that.
You'll hear back within 24 hours where we can — always within 48, Monday to Friday.
02
The full price, crane delivery included
Horatio quotes personally: one figure for the piece and its HIAB crane delivery to your postcode. Grower prices move and every delivery is different, which is why no price is printed on the page.
Before dispatch the plant is inspected, photographed for your approval and its rootball measured. When you're ready, you receive one invoice — piece and delivery together — with a secure payment link.
03
Craned into place, planted November to March
Rootball season runs November to March, while the plant is dormant and the ground is cool and moist. The crane lifts the rootball from the lorry and sets it down as close to the planting hole as it can reach; the planting method is set out step by step below.
Please don't book contractors, landscapers or tradespeople until the plant has arrived. Delivery dates can move, and we can't cover contractor costs if they do.
Questions about any step → answered below.
Where a single pieceholds the whole view.
Three settings. One pinned frame. Scroll.
A country-house approach
Arrival is where a single specimen does its most work. Set at the end of a drive, at the turn towards the front door or where a path meets the gravel, one sculptural yew reads from the gate and grows at every step — a statement before anyone reaches the house. Give it a plain backdrop, a stone frontage, a clipped hedge or open sky, and room on every side for its full width. The tall forms, tiered pagodas, spirals and pyramids, carry the eye up to the roofline; the low domes and rings hold the line of the drive.
A garden centrepiece
In the middle of a lawn, at the crossing of two paths or at the far end of a view, one mature yew becomes the point the whole garden is arranged around. The largest pieces anchor the space on their own; the cloud trees read as living sculpture, light passing between the pads. Choose the spot from inside the house: the windows you look out of every day are the views it will hold. Then leave mown grass or gravel right round it, so the shape reads from every side and nothing competes with the outline that took decades to build.
A grand courtyard
Walls frame a single specimen the way a plinth frames a sculpture. Centre it on flagstones or gravel, on the axis of an arch or a door, and give it room to be seen from a distance; the walls do the rest, sheltering it and throwing its outline into relief. Courtyards are where access matters most: when you enquire, tell us about the gateway, the walls and how close a lorry can stand, and the HIAB delivery is quoted to suit.
Planting a rootball,step by step.
Dig wide, not deep
Make the hole twice the width of the rootball and no deeper — you'll have the rootball's measurement before dispatch. Loosen the sides with a fork so new roots can push out, but leave the base firm so the plant doesn't sink.
Twice the width · no deeper
Leave the wrapping on
Lower the rootball in with its hessian and wire still on — they hold the roots together. Fold the top of the hessian back so nothing sits above soil level, and check the top of the rootball sits level with the ground.
Hessian + wire stay on
Backfill and water in
Backfill with the soil you dug out, mixed with a little well-rotted compost. Firm it in as you go to close the air pockets, then water thoroughly so the soil settles round the roots.
Dug soil + a little compost
Stake the tall pieces
Tall pieces need a stake or guy ropes while the roots take hold. Establishment stakes come out after 12–18 months, once the roots anchor; a single-stem standard carrying a heavy head keeps its support stake for good.
Stakes out at 12–18 months
Mulch, clear of the stems
Spread a mulch 5cm deep over the planting area, kept 10cm clear of the stems. It holds moisture in and keeps weeds down; piled against the bark, it invites rot.
5cm deep · 10cm clear
Water consistently
The first 18–24 months need consistent watering while the roots establish — never let the rootball dry out, above all in its first summer. After that, a yew in the ground needs water perhaps three or four times across a summer.
18–24 months
Clip once a year
Clip in late May, following the lines already there. Yew grows slowly, so one clip a year keeps the shape crisp. Missed it? A June or July clip is fine, but never after mid-August: late growth won't harden before the frosts.
Late May · once a year
Feed once, in spring
One spring feed of slow-release fertiliser a year, the first no sooner than six to eight weeks after planting, and nothing after August.
One feed · spring
Drag · Scroll
Rootball season is a different calendar from container-grown plants. Questions while you plant? Email Horatio.
From 0.7m to 3.6m,each the only one.
Six pieces across the size range. Sizes are height × width; every price is quoted to your postcode.
N° 01
Halo
Ring · 0.7m × 1.7m
Price on application
N° 02
Otto
Dome · 0.95m × 1.6m
Price on application
N° 03
Hiro
Cloud tree (niwaki) · 1.65m × 2.15m
Price on application
N° 04
Pip
Lollipop dome · 1.95m × 1.5m
Price on application
N° 05
Florian
Spiral pagoda · 2.5m × 1.5m
Price on application
N° 06
Augustus
Tiered mushroom on dome · 3.6m × 1.85m
Price on application
Every piece is a one-off: the plant in its photographs, quantity one. See every specimen.
Prefer something smaller, grown in a pot? See our English yew.
Field-grown over decades · one of one · craned into place
One-off pieces.Straight answers.
Why is a specimen yew price on application?
Because two things move. Each piece is a one-off from specialist family growers in Europe, and grower prices change from season to season; and the HIAB crane delivery depends on where the plant is going — the distance, and the access at your end. Rather than print a figure that could be wrong by the time you read it, Horatio quotes both together, personally: the full price for the piece with its crane delivery to your postcode. Send your postcode through the enquiry form on the specimen's page and you'll hear back within 24 hours where we can — always within 48, Monday to Friday.
How is crane delivery for a specimen arranged?
A specimen travels on a HIAB crane lorry — a flatbed with its own lifting arm, which lifts the rootball off the bed and sets it down as close to the planting spot as it can reach. Distance and access decide the cost, so it is quoted to your postcode alongside the price. When you enquire, tell us about the way in: lane and gateway widths, overhead cables and branches, slopes and soft ground, and how close a lorry can stand to where the plant is going. Please don't book contractors, landscapers or tradespeople until the plant has arrived: delivery dates can move, and we can't cover contractor costs if they do.
When can a rootball specimen be planted?
Between November and March. That is rootball season: the plant is lifted from open ground while it is dormant and goes into yours while the soil is cool and moist, so the roots can settle before spring growth begins. It is a different calendar from container-grown plants, so delivery is planned inside that window. Avoid days when the ground is frozen hard or waterlogged; the planting method is set out step by step above, from a hole twice the width of the rootball and no deeper to the first watering.
Is the specimen I receive the exact plant in the photographs?
Yes. Every specimen is a single, unique plant, and the photographs on its page are of that plant, not a similar one from the same field. There is one of it — quantity one — and when it's sold, it's gone. Before dispatch it is inspected and photographed for your approval, so you see it as it stands just before it travels.
What happens to a specimen before dispatch?
Three things. It is inspected; it is photographed for your approval, so you see the plant that is about to travel; and its rootball is measured, so you know how big a hole to dig before it arrives — twice the width of the rootball, and no deeper. It then travels with its rootball still wrapped in hessian and wire, which stay on at planting, and is delivered by HIAB crane lorry to the postcode it was quoted for.
How do I pay for a specimen?
With one invoice. Once you're happy with the quote, Horatio sends a single invoice covering the piece and its HIAB crane delivery, with a secure payment link. There is no basket on this page and nothing to pay until that invoice reaches you; the enquiry form simply starts the conversation.
How do I care for a specimen yew in its first two years?
Water is the priority: the first 18–24 months need consistent watering while the roots establish, and a rootball must never dry out in its first summer. After that, a yew in the ground needs water perhaps three or four times across a summer. Keep a mulch 5cm deep, held 10cm clear of the stems. Give one spring feed of slow-release fertiliser a year, the first no sooner than six to eight weeks after planting, and nothing after August. Clip once a year, in late May; a missed clip can wait until June or July, but never after mid-August. Establishment stakes come out after 12–18 months, once the roots anchor; a single-stem standard keeps its support stake for good. English yew is hardy to −20°C. Our pruning and trimming guide has the clipping method in full, and for anything else there is Lifetime Care: send a photograph, and grower answers come back within 24 hours — forever, free.
When it's sold,it's gone.
Field-grown over decades, photographed for your approval, craned into place. Ask for the price and crane delivery to your postcode, and Horatio will reply personally.
The exact plant in the photographs. Quantity one — there is no second like it.
Rootball season: delivered and planted while the plant is dormant.
Crane delivery, quoted to your postcode alongside the price.
Lifetime Care with every specimen — grower answers within 24 hours, forever, free.