Yews with brown and dead foliage that's been damaged in the winter may struggle to flourish. Learn how to prevent and remedy this problem on Gardener's Path. Winterdamage also can affect yews. Winter injury occurs as a result of rapidly changing temperatures during the winter, bright sunshine, and inadequate water reserves in the root system of the plant. Treating WinterDamageonYews. Because browning of yew branches can be caused by so many different things, you have to review the tree’s growing location and recent history in order to figure out what is going on. Winterdamage can occur on many plants. A rapid temperature drop following a mid-winter thaw can cause bark splitting. Dead twigs and branches in the spring may be the result of ice and snow damage from the winter.salt damageonyew. Yews and Boxwoods, trim off brown tips of branches now. Spruces and Pines, wait until you see new growth and then prune out dead as needed. Like last spring, I have been seeing a good amount of winterdamageonyews and boxwood in home gardens and at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The damage seems to be more prevalent on boxwood this year. How do you rejuvenate a yew? Why are my yews turning brown? Why is my Yew dying? Do yews grow back? Can you hard prune Yew? What is the best fertilizer for yews? Winter can be beautiful. Enjoy the beauty in the many pretty photos in this article. But do watch for snow, ice or salt heavy enough to cause damage. Snow damageyew hedge, plant replacement, garden repair, broken hedging. DamagedYew Hedge. There are several types of hedges that can be cut right back to their framework, and will easily rejuvenate from old wood. These eleven signs are your winterdamage warning system, helping you spot stress early and act fast. Don’t wait for spring blooms to tell you what went wrong—check now! Winter months bring colder temperatures that can cause damage to a Yew plant. If the weather changes too rapidly, such as mild weather to freezing temperatures in a short space of time, this can really damage the plant. To limit damage, prevent snow buildup on branches in winter. Remove snow carefully to avoid damaging branches. Late summer or fall pruning of yews can also result in tender growth that will be damaged or killed by winter temperatures. Do yew plants turn brown during the winter? Winter frost and winds can damageyews, usually browning foliage. Usually, when there is a problem with your yew (Taxus) the first symptom you will observe is a yellowing of the needles. Yellowing needles however can be caused by a variety of things such as the soil being too wet or too dry, disease, insect pests, winter desiccation, salt damage...