I think that, as some of the above links demonstrate, a yew maze doesn't have to take hundreds of years to grow or take an army to maintain. I suspect Cecelia has the space and budget to do it, if she wants to.
I bought 40-60cm yew from Hedges Direct for a hedge about 4 years ago, just looked at pricing and they are currently £10 each. I planted at 2 per metre rather than 3 to save on cost and the hedge is now topped off at 6ft high and very dense, so you could probably do it for about £3-4k as a very rough estimate.
There would undoubtedly be a lot of work preparing the ground/planting and watering in the first year, but after that it’s pretty low maintenance. I trim my (not very long) hedge about 2 or 3 times a year with electric hedge trimmers to keep it neat which takes about 10 minutes.
It would be quite an undertaking, but could certainly be pretty maze like, and high enough for young ones within 2 or 3 years, and adults within 5 or 6. I really don’t think you would be planting it for some future generation.
I agree the kids would probably tire of it fairly soon, but I love the ambition of it, and what a talking point to have in your garden! If you have the space and can afford it, don’t mind the initial work involved and then a few days a year to keep it in order then why not!
In the above video I love the idea of opening to the public so that other kids can enjoy it to - it takes these things of purpose and level - be it an annual maze, brick labyrinth, or in yew.
I hope we can support OPs in their research and not shoot down ideas that might be possible.
I agree that the real challenge to any of the above would be the prep. To get the land ready and the plants happy over a long period would require a lot of work and research. The watering plan in itself would need to be pretty sophis, I would say, to keep that many trees/plants thriving and happy.
I tend to think - from my own experience and reading the forum for about five years - that 'most' people under-estimate the work and water in growing trees. It's not usually a passive process at all.
But you have a lot of hive-mind experience here to explore options.
I would go for maize and plant it much thicker than fodder maize is planted, A band a foot wide would be enough to not be able to see through if you plant 3-4 rows in that space, yes it will end up stunted, but children don't need the maze to be 8 foot tall anyway. You've still got time to do it for this year and if they like it and play in it then you could plant a permanent maze in the winter.
Thanks for your encouragement. I am leaning towards a labyrinth. I enjoy the meaning and the therapeutic properties and I’d like to have something quite personal and special to our family in the centre. As in the journey leads back to the family, the family is where is all starts and our journeys always leads us home eventually. I’d like to create a place for the kids to be able to build memories and then reminisce when they are adults.
I will use the sit on to draw out some patterns first to get a feel for it. Realistically would the 1.5m mini sit on tractor be okay to mow the paths? Or do I need something smaller? I shall find out once it stops raining!
I could keep part of the grass for the meadow maze for the kids while they are little. They’ve only started school reception and year 3 and are still at that puppy stage where they like to run about aimlessly. A meadow maze requires very little input from me and can be altered relatively easily is ideal for us in the next ten years or so.
For a permanent labyrinth, I have some putting green grass seed which would be perfect to line the paths but weeding is a potentially a huge problem. I am not keen on using herbicide so have pretty much been organic in the last five years. Maybe I would have to put weed sheet down then gravel. Whichever method I choose the whole place will be mulched until the trees as established. The chosen site is clay with a foot or so of good top soil then goes into horrible pottery clay (sometimes blue clay). On the bright side there are already three drainage pipes going through it, two ditches which takes most of the water and the site is elevated and is never soggy.
I love the idea of a yew maze as it appears to be the most forgiving evergreen for pruning. I spend minimum two to three hours in the garden everyday. I have so far planted over three hundred trees (lots of hedges, trees dotted around the boundary and drive and a orchard) in this five acre plot. It was a deep learning curve and some trees really struggled initially. I have made every single mistake under the sun.
Now I have a vague idea on how to plant a tree correctly with minimal effort in maintenance.
Off to read more about yews and labyrinth patterns.
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It would be quite an undertaking, but could certainly be pretty maze like, and high enough for young ones within 2 or 3 years, and adults within 5 or 6. I really don’t think you would be planting it for some future generation.
I was also looking at hedges direct! It’s the first link that pops up for me.
Thanks for your encouragement. I am leaning towards a labyrinth. I enjoy the meaning and the therapeutic properties and I’d like to have something quite personal and special to our family in the centre. As in the journey leads back to the family, the family is where is all starts and our journeys always leads us home eventually. I’d like to create a place for the kids to be able to build memories and then reminisce when they are adults.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
great minds!
A willow structure is the next thing on my wish list.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.