Priorwood Gardens is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. It is now in what were the precincts of the nearby Melrose Abbey. The house was built by the Douglas family in the 17th century and the gardens are now famous as a specialist centre for the craft of dried flower arranging.
What looks like a single yew from a distance grows at the gable end of the house, but is in fact two trees. Unfortunately measuring girths is not possible as the space under the yews is used as a dump for dead flowers and this encroaches some way up the stems of the yews. As well as the weight of compression on the roots this debris will also have a suffocating effect on the trunks. It is a pity that these yews are not respected as much as they deserve and are overlooked as to their significance in the history of the place and the gardens, as their size suggests they have been here for around 200 years.
