My landscape yew

[Mike Westervelt]

Looking good Dave! I think you are right about the jin length especially once the apex gets sorted could see it go away completely and become shari.

 

[gooeytek]

That's turning out way better than I was expecting. Looking good!

 

[Ruddigger]

That’s going to be a show worthy tree soon.

 

[Dav4]

Done for now. I deliberately left a lot of extra branches, as there was a fair amount of twisting and minor breakage, and I anticipate some of the smaller branches might die over the winter. They’ll be plenty of tweaking and editing over the next year or two as, hopefully, I see decent back budding .

 

[Attmos]

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.
View attachment 573873View attachment 573874View attachment 573875

I take it that charring the wood is a quick way to have it wear down naturally....?

 

[Dav4]

I take it that charring the wood is a quick way to have it wear down naturally....?

The charring actually accomplishes several things. From an aesthetic point of view, it removes most superficial tool marks, and burns away softer wood to highlight the natural grain. From a functional standpoint, the charring will actually do a pretty good job of preserving the deadwood. I run a wire brush over it afterward, and will eventually apply some lime sulfur. Within a year or so, the black char will be significantly less noticeable, too.

 

[Attmos]

The charring actually accomplishes several things. From an aesthetic point of view, it removes most superficial tool marks, and burns away softer wood to highlight the natural grain. From a functional standpoint, the charring will actually do a pretty good job of preserving the deadwood. I run a wire brush over it afterward, and will eventually apply some lime sulfur. Within a year or so, the black char will be significantly less noticeable, too.

Hadn't thought about it strengthening the wood but that makes sense. Very cool, thanks for sharing.

I started reading this one because I have a baby Yew, like... tiny.. lol
...and I wanted to see how much actual growth you got out of it, because until recently my baby has been a super slow grower.

Now it's just a regular slow grower.

 

[Dav4]

Hadn't thought about it strengthening the wood but that makes sense. Very cool, thanks for sharing.

I started reading this one because I have a baby Yew, like... tiny.. lol
...and I wanted to see how much actual growth you got out of it, because until recently my baby has been a super slow grower.

Now it's just a regular slow grower.

You can see how big the trunk was when I dug it out of the ground 17 or 18 years ago. My guess is that it was at least 40 to 50 years old back then…

 

[Attmos]

You can see how big the trunk was when I dug it out of the ground 17 or 18 years ago. My guess is that it was at least 40 to 50 years old back then…

Speaking of that... how the hell did you get it out of the ground? lol

 

[leatherback]

Wondering about the vigor. I have a few big yews standing around. One of them was unhappy for years. In winter I tore the tree out of the pot and found a lot of fieldsoil still around the base; Forgot to clean it out. After doing this, this year it has significantly picked up steam. Next to this, Yews grow in 3 year cycles; roots/shoots/rest.

 

[Dav4]

Speaking of that... how the hell did you get it out of the ground? lol

Lots of digging and sawing

 

[Dav4]

Wondering about the vigor. I have a few big yews standing around. One of them was unhappy for years. In winter I tore the tree out of the pot and found a lot of fieldsoil still around the base; Forgot to clean it out. After doing this, this year it has significantly picked up steam. Next to this, Yews grow in 3 year cycles; roots/shoots/rest.

I'll agree the vigor isn't ideal as it was cut back heavily last year and re-potted this past spring. It's back out on the bench right now but will get to spend the winter in my cold room. I suspect the wiring and opening up the structure will get more buds popping on the interior and we should have a good growing season coming up.