I like yew

[_#1_]

And I hope yew like me too.

Found out this young man will be moving sometimes in the future and needed to unload his collection of mostly pre bonsai. And he is just 10min from me! Who knew! Saw this English Yew and thought I need to have it. Looks so good I can just eat it I read they are slow to grow. And this one has a nicely developed base and trunk. I don't think I will run into anther yew like this so I jumped on it.

Seller had the tree for 4 years. I think he might of missed one or two seasons of strong growth because he said he kept it in mostly full sun and it wasn't that happy. Then he started to give it dappled to full shade in which it responded well.

His regiment was; morning sun to afternoon full shade. Forgotten what fert was used.
Water twice a day on warm days and once on cooler days. And mist in the morning.
Burlap the whole pot and sometimes the entire tree when weather gets too extreme for winter and let snow do the rest.

Here it was when he first acquired it.

At new home. It's leggy I know.

Naturally grown leader and branches. I like this the most cause there's no chop wound or scar.

Another shot showing the dead wood, which runs from the base to the top back side.

Right side.

Back. This can be a great natural looking uro.

Base front.

Looks to be healthy ATM.

What are those balls?

I wasn't suppose to spend anymore this year and here I am with the biggest purchase to date lol. And absolutely no regrets

 

[10-brink]

looks great!

 

[Soldano666]

Awsome yew. Good score

 

[just.wing.it]

Damn!
Nice! The little balls are next seasons fruit or flower....
Male yews make these weird little pollen flowers that hang down below the leaves, and female yews make the red berry looking things with the seed inside.
Male:

Female:

Yours looks like a boy to me....
Beautiful tree, can't wait to see what you make of it.

 

[Giga]

Thats a nice yew - I always like female yews, as i'm all about large plump bre.... berries. Clean that dead wood up get some wire on that beast!

 

[_#1_]

Thanks ya'll. How the hell I forgotten about my own thread?

Unfortunately for me you might be right @just.wing.it lol. Some Yews around my neighborhood have berries on them right now. I'm with @Giga. Prefer the berries.

Funny when I was in middle school, my brother, sister, cousin and myself used to pass this funeral home going to school; and there where Yew hedges grown the building.
We would eat the red part and spit out the seed. We called them "smurf berry". Luckily no one swallowed the seeds lol.

Yews seems to really like fall weather too. New sprouts are growing everywhere on mine and neighborhood trees.

This is end of third season for this tree in this pot and soil. Akadama broke down pretty much to nothing. And looks to be almost if not all akadama soil. Water still drain really good though.

@Giga, will do on the dead wood. But probly next year though as I'm a lazy dude.
The current front might need to change too. Hard for me to explain but I'll snap a pic when I get a chance and ya'll can point me in the right direction

p.s. He(?) can't wait to see his(?) friend, "stickroot" Trident!

 

[defra]

realy Cool looking tree!!
Like to see the progress of this one !!

 

[sorce]

I'm a lazy dude.

Yesterday, I thought about leaving brushes on each of my trees that need to stay algae free so I can brush em a bit everytime I stand there....which is a lot, just never with a brush, that way, it will always be there.

Nice friggin Yew!

Great base!
A healthy too with options....

Real nice!

Sorce

 

[abqjoe]

So you're the one who snagged it I actually contacted the seller to buy this tree and he informed me that it had moved on. Congrats on a great score!

 

[_#1_]

Thanks @abqjoe . A little update!

Last month did some root pruning and repot in 50/50 pumice, lava (thanks a bunch for sharing the find CW!). Think I also added a minute amount of pine barks too.

Pardon the fuzzy fingertip. This was what it looked like after mulch removed and dug out the ground.


Was a bit of a struggle getting it out the pot, but finally.
I've forgotten which grandmasters on here says the top 1/2"-3/4" of the akadama soil will break down in time, And this looks to be true! A lot under there are unaffected.

After some raking and hosing. Trimmed the roots on all sides by about 1/2". I assume yews and all conifers can be finicky so I was conservative on the cuts.


After a month, it seem to be happy in the new soil. Buds extending everywhere. This is where I'm stumped.
Do I let it grow all season and cut back in fall? I had this tree late last year going into winter so I'm not sure how it grew last season. But the PO said it suffered some setback around two years ago when he didn't properly wintered it.
I would prefer to know the tree is 100% before bending and wutnot .
All advice will be greatly appreciated


Don't mind the far right side of the canopy. I got stupid and did a tiny bit needle plucking before I realize this is supposed to be done in fall .

 

[just.wing.it]

Looking good!
I repotted a couple of mine this spring. I plan to let them grow unrestricted all year, to get established in the new soil.
And I will do some wiring and trimming in the late fall or winter....
Yours looks a couple weeks ahead of mine.

 

[_#1_]

Thanks for the tip @just.wing.it.

Funny you said that. The yews at all the big box stores I went to are about two weeks ahead of mines. Wonder what their secret is.

 

[just.wing.it]

Thanks for the tip @just.wing.it.

Funny you said that. The yews at all the big box stores I went to are about two weeks ahead of mines. Wonder what their secret is.

Probably green houses....just a guess...
I was re-reading some of your first post, and I think you're right.
You won't find another one like this...
Nebari and surface roots like that are hard to come by on Taxus'.

 

[cmeg1]

Awesome tree!

 

[abqjoe]

Looking good man!

 

[cmeg1]

This link is killer. https://www.kaizenbonsai.com/blog/articles/the-journey-of-my-plucking-yew/

 

[just.wing.it]

This link is killer. https://www.kaizenbonsai.com/blog/articles/the-journey-of-my-plucking-yew/

I'd love to see that one today. Been 9 years since that last pic.

 

[cmeg1]

Tellin' ya. Graham is a bonsai superstar in my book!

 

[_#1_]

This link is killer. https://www.kaizenbonsai.com/blog/articles/the-journey-of-my-plucking-yew/

Yeah man. He sure know what he's doing that's for sure.

What I didn't undstand was he bare rooted the tree the following year. He said that's the most important part. I always thought not to mess with collected conifers for at least 3 years.

 

[just.wing.it]

Yeah man. He sure know what he's doing that's for sure.

What I didn't undstand was he bare rooted the tree the following year. He said that's the most important part. I always thought not to mess with collected conifers for at least 3 years.

I think his philosophy on that is similar to mine....which is 2 fold.
1. The sooner you get it into good quality, free draining soil, the better and faster it will take off growing.
2. You might as well get the root ball in order ASAP.....it would suck to let a tree recover for 3 years in a clay ball, where it won't be very happy, only to bare root it in year 4 and the tree dies....

I've taken to going all in on root work ASAP.
So far, it's worked well...the only iffy ones are azaleas, for me.... but I'm doing a few experiments with them as far as root work goes.
And learning daily.