Yew Yamadori Watering Advice

[M. Nibbits]

I had an opportunity to save two yews from being tossed yesterday, and I'm looking for advice on how to give them the best chance of surviving (I know summer (SW Pennsylvania) is not the best time to dig up trees). I took as large of a root ball as I could, but couldn't get much foliage due to the size of the bushes and the size of my vehicle. I washed off the outer layer of muddy clay they were growing in (there is still some at the center of the root ball, didn't want to stress the roots any further) and potted them up in 100% pumice. I unfortunately can't put them into full shade at the moment, my only option is a south facing balcony, but I have tried to shield them best I can with other plants from the summer sun.

My biggest question is how often should I be watering? And when should I start? I've seen people recommend never letting the substrate dry out fully, while others recommend waiting ~10 days for the roots to callous over before watering again. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!

(I will not be doing any further pruning or re-potting for at least 2-3 years)

 

[MrFancyPlants]

If it has solid clay core, I would say wait 10 days if you watered it in after potting. I would water sparingly until you see signs of growth. The pumice at the top will be dry and that core could still be soggy. I would have mixed some long grain spaghnum with the pumice to wick and distribute moisture from the core, but probably best to let it be for quite a while. I wouldn’t shade too much after a few weeks.

 

[M. Nibbits]

Thanks for the advice! I'd say the clay cores are around 1/2 to 1/3 the radius of the root balls. I was initially trying to remove all the clay, but it just wasn't feasible without greatly reducing the rootball