I am considering doubling up my privet hedge with a row of yew. We live on a bay beach and are trying to block the beach parking lot from our view. The privet is fine but does nothing from late fall to late spring as far a privacy is concerned.
I think "Hicksi" yew would work well. I have read that they are salt tolerant. They should fair OK with ocean spray but I am having fears that the first big storm or hurricane will flood the hedges with salt water and kill them. Does any one have any idea how salt tolerant yew actually are???
Wyman's Encyclopedia of Gardening lists (under Seashore Gardens) taxus cuspidata, or Japanese yew, as having survived being inundated with salt water during storms, but adds that the shrubs on that list were all washed off with plain water after the storms.
