Conditional — Some Areas
yew (zones 4-7) reaches only part of Alabama (7b-9b): zone 7 are in range, so where you are in the state decides it.
Yew in Alabama — the short answer
Yew in Alabama: hardy in zones 4–7.
- Plant zones
- 4-7
- Rated hardy to zone 4a by NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: our plant database.
- Alabama zones
- 7b-9b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Feb 24 - Mar 16 – Nov 15 - Nov 28
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 225 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Alabama spans zones 7b-9b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score yew against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
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Alabama is not one climate
Alabama’s winter-low ladder runs across 67 counties, from zone 7.5 in Jackson County to zone 9 in Mobile County. That is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between yew overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 67 counties runs 8–8.5 zones, with a median of 8.5 zones — a 1.5-zone span end to end.
Measured across 67 Alabama counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where Yew Stands in Alabama
Yew is rated for zones 4–7 — a cold floor USDA puts at -30 to -20°F. No Alabama county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Alabama winters, not about yew.
Above the zone 7 ceiling
67 counties
- Jackson County · zone 7b
- Lauderdale County · zone 7b
- Marion County · zone 7b
3 of 67 shown
Warmer than the zone 7 end of its range.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
Yew Needs
- USDA Zones: 4-7
- Mature size: 12 ft tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Drought tolerance: MediumWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Alabama Has
- USDA Zones: 7b-9b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Feb 24 - Mar 16
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 15 - Nov 28
- Annual Rainfall: 50-65 inches
- Common Soils: Red clay, Sandy loam, Alluvial
Plant Zone Range (zones 4-7)
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Yew in Alabama
The frost window
Across Alabama, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Feb 24 and Mar 16, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 28 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 244-day window you can count on — up to 277 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Winter standing
Alabama runs as cold as USDA zone 7, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for yew, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether yew is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Alabama; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says yew survives winter in part of Alabama, not across all of it. Whether the season is long enough — and warm enough — is a different question.
Chill hours
Yew requires ~400 chill hours (32-45°F dormancy window). Alabama typically banks ~1226 chill hours per winter (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), which keeps this plant on track.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
What Else to Consider for Yew in Alabama
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Alabama growers also need to think about:
Heavy clay soils in the Piedmont region
High humidity promotes fungal diseases
Fire ants are a persistent garden pest
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Alabama grower, not just yew — is covered on the Alabama growing guide.
Where in Alabama Yew Is Zone-Hardy
Yew is rated for USDA zones 4–7. Every Alabama county sits above it. Even Jackson County, the state’s coldest at zone 7b, is milder than the plant’s zone 7 ceiling — the constraint here is winter chill it will not get, not cold it cannot take.
Across those 67 counties Alabama’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 7b in Jackson County to zone 9a in Mobile County — 1.5 USDA zones of spread, which is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. None of that range reaches the band yew needs, so here the statewide answer really is the answer.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. Yew’s zone 4–7 band: Rated hardy to zone 4a by NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, checked Oct 2026. Ceiling: our plant database.. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Alabama Cooperative Extension
For Alabama-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for yew, the canonical source is Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing Yew in Alabama
When can I plant Yew in Alabama?
Alabama's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Feb 24 and Mar 16, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 28 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Yew, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Alabama and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Yew grown in across Alabama?
Alabama spans USDA hardiness zones 7b-9b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Yew carries a range of zones 4-7, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Alabama site have?
A typical Alabama site sees ~266 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Yew should be matched against that window, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Will Yew actually grow on my specific land in Alabama?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores yew against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Alabama
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores yew against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Alabama yew averages can't show:
We read public map data around Alabama — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Alabama yew average
Explore More
Growing guides for yew
Explore Alabama county by county
Alabama carries 67 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for yew there:
Where else yew grows
Yew's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Alabama in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Alabama
Alabama has a growing page for 1,029 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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