My landscape yew

[Dav4]

We've been seeing alot of yews on the board lately, so I thought I'd post a few pics of a yew I dug from my front yard last April. I dug another tree about the same size, but the tree pictured has a better trunk, with a massive base, nice movement low down, and a load of deadwood to work with. Sorry for the not so great photos. If I get this thing into a smaller pot next spring, I'll try to get better pics.

Dave

 

[Tachigi]

I do love dem yewwwwwws! Nice base Dav. Your big challenge will be to get a foliage canopy in place. Good thing you have all that wood to cave on to while a way the time waiting for it

 

[Dav4]

Yeah, this is a long term project for sure. There is some foliage in lower on the trunk...might be something in 5-7 years. In the meantime, lots of fert and water, and I can practice my carving without having foliage in the way .

Dave

 

[Anonymous User]

Sweet! Well worth the wait for foliage.

I am stock[piling quite a few Yews dug from landscapes, all, like this one, need time, but well worth the effort. I am considering putting some in the ground for a couple years so I can hack them back hard and hopefully get a faster rate of growth.


Nice find,


Will

 

[Dav4]

Yeah, this is a long term project for sure. There is some foliage in lower on the trunk...might be something in 5-7 years.

Well, how about 7-10 years....

The canopy on this one has taken FOREVER to develop. I starte the carving here this past summer and am done for now...loads of deadwood on this one. Styling the canopy is a bit of a challlenge for 3 reasons...1) there isn't all that many branches to work with, 2) the trunk above the base has almost no taper, and 3) less then 50% of the trunk above the base is alive, so all the foliage is mostly growing from one side, and my options for carving to improve the shape/taper are limited. My thoughts are to either try to incorporate all the foliage currently on the tree into something descent, or remove everything above the lowest bunch of foliage, create the canopy from that, basically making a sumo. I still have loads of work to do with the deadwood, but it's a start. May get some wire on it this winter, or I may wait another season...we'll see.

 

[painter]

good job and great patience, love this guy
i think as you know, wire these young branches down in the general direction you think you want them in b/c they get tough to bend real quick. the other thing ive noticed is dont repot as often as you would other species maybe every third year and the top growth will be faster

 

[Dav4]

good job and great patience, love this guy
i think as you know, wire these young branches down in the general direction you think you want them in b/c they get tough to bend real quick. the other thing ive noticed is dont repot as often as you would other species maybe every third year and the top growth will be faster

Yeah, this tree hasn't been re-potted for a few years and I think in the coming spring, it will really pop. If it does, I might have more options style-wise.

 

[fore]

Looking good Dave. Good job on the carving. Thanks for the update to this thread I've never seen. Challenging material.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looking great Dave, this one has a ton of character in that trunk!

 

[Dav4]

Just updating this thread. This one was styled last month during my snowcation. I'm hoping the pruning and wiring that was done gets this one going, as it is a very slow grower so far.

 

[JudyB]

Just curious what has made this one so slow? Or are yew just pokey? I wonder if you repotted bigger if that would help. Maybe it's just sulking from some perceived insult... Maybe you'll just have to hide it and ignore it for a couple years....

 

[Dav4]

Just curious what has made this one so slow? Or are yew just pokey? I wonder if you repotted bigger if that would help. Maybe it's just sulking from some perceived insult... Maybe you'll just have to hide it and ignore it for a couple years....

I think it was the move down to GA, but just guessing. It's been in a pot for almost 7 years...when it was in my front yard in MA, it could put out shoots 12-18 inches long. Since being dug, it's never regained that kind of vigor, and has basically been ignored other then the deadwood work from several seasons ago along with the repot prior to that. It's been in the current pot for 3 + years, and it's is plenty big considering most of the trunk is dead. It wasn't too healthy for the first year or so here...barely grew and had a case of scale, as well. It's much healthier now, but still grows at a snail's pace. I'm hoping the modest reduction in branches will produce a bit more vigorous growth in the remaining branches this year. We'll know by Memorial day.

 

[berobinson82]

Just updating this thread. This one was styled last month during my snowcation. I'm hoping the pruning and wiring that was done gets this one going, as it is a very slow grower so far.

Vitamin shaker?

I have a yew of similar stature that is a pretty slow grower also. I have it on the ground in an anderson flat with the hopes of letting the roots escape. Nossir. This year it's going to be fed 2 times what it was last year in hopes it'll get moving.

Dav4, I like your idea of removing extraneous branches and focusing energy into what is needed. I think you've inspired my weekend project. Besides digging for iron (wood) of course.

 

[BonsaiRic]

Regarding the slow growth: Even though the trunk is large it is mostly deadwood with a small percentage of the overall tree as living tissue. Plant carbohydrate reserves are stored in roots and sapwood of a tree's trunk and large branches. The deadwood of the tree is isolated from the roots/sapwood of the live-vein. The living portion of the tree cannot draw/add any carbohydrate reserves to/from the deadwood. So this tree will need to build its "reserve" back up over time (maybe even years) to produce more vigorous growth. Keep it in optimal conditions and over time it will hopefully "pick up steam".
Hope this helps.

 

[Dav4]

Vitamin shaker?

I have a yew of similar stature that is a pretty slow grower also. I have it on the ground in an anderson flat with the hopes of letting the roots escape. Nossir. This year it's going to be fed 2 times what it was last year in hopes it'll get moving.

Dav4, I like your idea of removing extraneous branches and focusing energy into what is needed. I think you've inspired my weekend project. Besides digging for iron (wood) of course.

The "vitamin shaker" is exactly that...for our resident Blue Tongued Skink...not sure how it got on the island counter but there you go.
Good luck with your yew. The increased fert application is a good idea, but whether it helps, I can't say. I treat all my yews the same, but some develop quickly while others...not so much. The silver lining is that once we've got them developed (in a decade or so), they should stay in form with minimal intervention...I hope.

 

[Dav4]

Regarding the slow growth: Even though the trunk is large it is mostly deadwood with a small percentage of the overall tree as living tissue. Plant carbohydrate reserves are stored in roots and sapwood of a tree's trunk and large branches. The deadwood of the tree is isolated from the roots/sapwood of the live-vein. The living portion of the tree cannot draw/add any carbohydrate reserves to/from the deadwood. So this tree will need to build its "reserve" back up over time (maybe even years) to produce more vigorous growth. Keep it in optimal conditions and over time it will hopefully "pick up steam".
Hope this helps.

I agree with this assessment...completely makes sense. Thank you.

 

[october]

Hi Dave. It might have been faster to start one from seed. Anyway, it has amazing potential. I think with 2 more growing seasons, even if it is only slow to moderate, you will have a nice, structural image. Then it can just fill in from there. I think this is the tough part for bonsai. The time when there is not even a structure or bonsai image. However, we still need to maintain our enthusiasm and efforts with the material.

Rob

 

[Dav4]

Thanks Rob. Yeah, this one has been slow. It took 7 years of pot growing for those little buds on the trunk to grow long enough to wire...but good things come to those who wait. Honestly, I get as big a rush seeing the end result of a decades work on these slow growers trees as I do when I get a real good looking tree after just one day of styling. As others have said before, it's the journey that counts. I'll be content if this one continues to putter along...we'll get there eventually.

 

[Dav4]

Zombie thread! Honestly, I forgot I had started it... seventeen years ago!

Here is the tree ten years ago during a weather related vacation down in GA. (I still have that Pats cap)

Here is the tree summer of '22' . It hadn't been wired in 5+ years and had just been periodically cut back.


It was cut back hard last year and re-potted this spring with the roots raise up an inch plus. My goal is to raise it another inch or so to get as much of the dead wood trunk out of the soil as possible.

 

[Dav4]

Full disclosure... I hadn't really been thinking about this tree other then keeping it alive and sorta/kinda healthy with the idea that eventually, I'd start working it. Well, for some reason, it caught my eye this morning...

I started by tearing the uber long and clumsily carved top jin down by 50% and charring it. I have no doubt it'll get shorter but usually take my time with these things.


I finally have a plan and my head and started wiring but have a lot more ahead here. Ideally, I'd have more branches on the right, and wish they'd generally be longer but that'll come with time (hopefully).