No, yew doesn't repel dogs and cats, and that's certainly not why they were commonly planted in churchyards - no one's really sure why they were, but a couple of theories are that they represent resurrection, being so long lived and always remaining green; seems to have been done since pagan times. Yew wood was used for bow making so lots of yews were planted fopr their wood, and the yew tree, once mature, provided good protection for the church roof.

Yew is poisonous so don't know if that led to belief they keep animals away?

I always understood it was to keep cows out of churchyards, cant remember why.

Yew is only poisonous if you ingest it though, I can't see why that would frighten off cats or dogs, and the only way it'd keep cows out was if it formed a thick hedge, surely.

Thanx everyone for your answers,thought the yew tree might be the answer to stopping cats fouling my garden,tried almost everything else

Not a hope Anglobelge... There is little which will deter cats, best not to leave any turned soil uncovered :-)

Whilst trimming one of our Yew trees I was attacked by a fur covered bird. So they definitely do not stop cats.
By the way, the Yew wood for the English longbow came from France.

Hi moon growe
The cats are actually doing it on the lawn

I always understood Yew trees were planted in graveyards to keep 'evil spirits' out - probably a mediaevel idea?

Anglobelge are you sure in that case the culprits are cats? Cats like soft turned soil as they dig and bury, or in old cat's case attempt to bury, their excrement. Could you have foxes around? They do defecate on grass as a warning to otehr foxes that this is their territory.

I have a problem with a ferral cat doing the same thing...and it is a cat, I know because I've seen it. I'm waiting to find out the results of another member's experiments with wintergreen. She wants to repel something else...but has cats, so we should find out soon.

I know when I used to garden for others, I had a farmers manure heap i could add any prunings, clippings, weeds etc to, but He asked that any yew prunings were never added. He used the heap to fertilise his fields and he told me that yew poisoned the fields and deterred crops growing. I never add Yew to the compost heap, I always burn it.

I heard/read a theory, can`t remember where that the church used to plant yew in the churchyards as it is poisonous to animals and then they could get the locals to pay for the walls around the churchyard to keep their animals out - pay up or your animals die sort of extortion! But certainly doesn`t work on cats.

There are lots of stories about yew and graveyards. The roots are said to spread horizontally creating a mat that the dead can't penetrate to reach the surface. The roots are also said to be so fine that they grow through the eyes of the dead so they cannot see their way back to this world.

In many cases, the churches were built around an existing tree so it is another example of Christianity taking on a pagan belief.

On the question, not every animal is poisoned by yew. Deer are said to be attracted to it. I read a New England gardening magazine that said people with unfenced yards should be sure not to plant yew.

Moon Growe
Seen the cats doing it,Foxes excrement is bigger and always black ,with them being meat eaters only,solid high fencing all around the garden,so can't see them getting in
Once again thank you an all the others for your replies
Robert

Cats do use lawns as a toilet, but its uncommon - its usually when the grass is long, or longer than it should be, and 99.9% of the time its a tom cat - un neutered toms will also use the grass even if it is short if they're particularly lazy or want to mark their territory in a major way. So, anglobelge, if your grass is too long, cut it and keep it cut, that might help.

Thanx fo your reply ,Bamboo,the grass is always kept short,new people moved in next door,an they have a few cats,so you could be right in saying that they are marking out their new territory,trouble being now is they are using my (well kept) lawn as a litter tray

What you need is a sprinkler connected up to a PIR - it will switch on when it detects movement in the garden. Stops cats for sure, I've got a friend who uses that in his garden, but then he's an engineer and was able to rig it up himself.

Actually, tom cats will go anywhere...grass, gravel, doorsteps...and it is to do with territory. I believe they won't go anywhere near lion dung...a bit hard to get hold of, I know...lol

They also hate the smell of orange oil, Anglobelge...but it's difficult to spray around a large area. Could you maybe find out if there's a particular route they're taking into the garden and interupt it?