Taxus Baccata (English Yew) (2009-...)

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Somewhere in the heat of summer 2009 i found 2 big yews that needed to be removed from a property. They were free, but a bottle of wine was the least i could do. Needed a drink myself after getting one tree out the ground and in my normal sized trunk of the car. The man was thinking i was nuts. I guess it was meant i ended here...
The bigger brother of this one is in a box in my garden, but is too big to move and not best located to grow so steps are a bit slow on that one.
So i rolled the monsters to the back of the yard and dropped them in the ground.
2010 good backbudding all over the trunk.

Cutting back the stumps and selecting branches. Yew tend to cluster the branches.

2011 June the following year it was full again, we can start over again...

2012 I boxed the yew

And airlayered the top portion (measuring the hight of the new car), here it is in 2015

After realizing i might need some help i booked a workshop to do some woodwork.
2014 Start of the workshop.

After cleaning unneeded branches.

After rough shaping of the deadwood.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Shortening some stubs

Block carving

Adding details

Working with a big brush

Wooden snow

August 2015 Letting things grow

2016 On the bench

April 2017 Ready for spring

Fresh tender growth, lets fill the pads.

And next day mr. winter came back for a few days, lost most of the new growth and set the tree back for a year. I've let things grow and unwired down the road. Hope to get this one wired before spring.

 

[BobbyLane]

Thats a big lump! do you not try and get more movement into your Yew branches? i just think it could be nicer with a little more movement put in the branches, everything looking a little rigid atm, just my two cents, for eg look at this

yew branches in the wild are not usually ram rod straight

or

Spreading Yew tree... by Sandi (VERY busy lady), on Flickr

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Thanks for the video's, they are great examples. Some of the branches were to thick to bring much movement in them by the time i got there and i would go back if i could, you have a good eye. Some branches we just cracked down at the nodge to give them the right angle. Most of the branches have more movement in the horizontal plane than up and down. Both examples are somehow more feminin in feel than this one. That's one of the reasons i made the pads bigger and more rigid. Also styling them more in a bow like in the second video might make it difficult for making actual big full masculine pads. The mature bonsai in the beginning of the video shows the smaller pads and they suite the tree well, justifying the bend down image of the start of the branch. Something i can think about for a next styling. Thank you!

 

[defra]

Thats a beast dirk

Deadwood work looks nice also the box it is in is real flat nice one !
I am looking forward to see this one progres

Ps good to see you airlayered this one i was wondering if it was possible with taxus thnx !

 

[Ruben Bouwmeester]

Looking GOOD dirk, didn't you post this one at bonsaicafe.be? i know him from somewhere. nice to follow it again.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

They do layer well. The tree has passed on the blog of Danny some time ago. Don't know if I posted this on that forum long ago.

 

[Tsukibibi]

Very good job. Can you make pictures of the deadwood ? Please.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Very good job. Can you make pictures of the deadwood ? Please.

I'll do my best not to forget. It is not worked out yet.

 

[leatherback]

@dirk hoorelbeke any updates on this?