Hard Pruning Mature Yew Tree

[Nishant]

Hello Friends,

There was this Yew tree, which was hard pruned by the owner. I had told him that I will interested in collecting it as he was going to get rid of it anyway. Nevertheless he went to hard prune it just yesterday.

Was this okay? Will the tree recover or will it hurt the tree and never recover?

It is not known to me as to till what date will he wait. It could be just within a month. He is going to fully clear the garden as he has construction plans.

Thanks

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I would take it as soon as possible. I've seen taxus be cut back to the bare trunk before collection. This looks like a healthy specimen, so I think it'll survive.
But this is only based on what I've seen. I only had one yew in my life.

 

[Woocash]

It’ll recover from the prune, almost certainly, but the collection is a two edged sword. Now into September wouldn’t be a terrible time to collect, because most of heat and growing has finished for the year so it should have time to recover somewhat before winter. Alternatively, wait until winter, but it sounds as though the neighbour would just get on with the work without telling you anyway so now ish may be your best hope.

Get a decent rootball and don’t bare root the tree entirely. Yew have quite fibrous and delicate roots considering the strength of the wood so the least upheaval the better really. Even washing off heavy soil will take a lot of roots with it so probably best to let it recover then try and remove the majority of ground soil in stages. If the soil is dry and falls away mores the better, but then that type of soil would likely have good enough drainage for pot culture anyway.

This is just what I would do. Best to wait for confirmation from others before going too nuts.

 

[Dav4]

Not an ideal time to cut back that hard... spring would have been better. Digging now may or may not be a good idea. Digging in spring is ideal, followed by digging when dormant... you may not have a choice, so.... good luck. Make sure this one has a trunk worth collecting... my 0.02.

 

[Shibui]

There is still plenty of green on the tree. Some bare branches may die but trees will always try to survive. Even those that don't bud on bare wood will continue to grow from any green parts left. I have no doubt the tree will grow.
You have not said if there is a payment involved in collecting this tree.
If no payment and it does not survive no biggie an we will have some more data to add to the knowledge base.
If you have agreed payment I would take the opportunity to reduce the price as 'Yews don't transplant well after a hard prune' .

 

[Nishant]

Many Thanks for the replies so far.

Shibui, There is no price as such but is it true that 'Yews don't transplant well after a hard prune'