Astounding yew

[october]

These increcible yew specimens have been popping up seemingly more and more in the last 5 years or so. This one is..well... I'll let you decide. If you just want to see the tree, click ahead to time 3:35. Also, it saves time when you can have 3-4 people work on the same tree at the same time.

Rob

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWoYyTbpM4w

 

[berobinson82]

I think yews are gorgeous and underutilized. I wish I hadn't killed my nursery stock

 

[Brian Underwood]

Pretty spectacular! I've been looking for yews around town, and I must say there are some VERY old ones as landscape trees. But alas, I'd have to sneak out at night and dig them from some of the richest neighborhoods, and they tend not to like any kind of night digging...

 

[Stan Kengai]

I am so envious of those who can grow yew. Look at what Graham Potter does with this material. And this one.

 

[mcpesq817]

I am so envious of those who can grow yew. Look at what Graham Potter does with this material. And this one.

Do you find that you can't grow yew in your area? I have a few I'm working on in zone 7 and find them to be very hardy. I believe that there was someone a long time ago on here who was growing them in Texas too.

Yews to me are like the poor man's juniper - they share a lot of the same attributes (deadwood, flexible branches, backbudding, etc.), though the foliage is a bit different. At least here on the east coast, they are fairly plentiful as landscape plantings.

 

[plant_dr]

Now all he needs to do is crouch down with his arm on the side of the pot and have a pouty face and it would be perfect

 

[fore]

What a magnificent specimen! Thanks for posting that Rob! We have a ton of old landscape yews around here. I'm thinking of contacting the City Park District and see if I can get an inside source to yews as I see them ripping them out of the ground occasionally. What a waste. Just not sure the city will help out due to liability issues.

But I'd love to get a yew that was half as good as this one! lol

Chris

 

[Stan Kengai]

Do you find that you can't grow yew in your area? I have a few I'm working on in zone 7 and find them to be very hardy. I believe that there was someone a long time ago on here who was growing them in Texas too.

Yews to me are like the poor man's juniper - they share a lot of the same attributes (deadwood, flexible branches, backbudding, etc.), though the foliage is a bit different. At least here on the east coast, they are fairly plentiful as landscape plantings.

I have been trying to figure out why they won't grow around here for years, especially considering that there is a species native to the Florida Panhandle (Taxus floridana). I've had several failed attempts both in the ground and in containers. I do have a Cephalotaxus in my landscape, but they're just not the same with a spreading suckering habit. To tell you how bad it is, they don't even sell true yews at the nurseries here, and we all know that nurseries will only sell you things that will survive in your climate

 

[tom tynan]

The Yew in the original post is referred to as the "Kimura" Yew in the video - probably a taxus cuspidata or japanese yew - these have a finer foliage then the common taxus baccata. It is hard to find a good single trunk yew - much more common to find the multi-trunk or hedgehog yew as I like to call them. Yes - very difficult physcially to dig one out as a typical North-eastern US, foundation planting. They are a favorite snack for whitetail deer. They do like the cold weather and they certianly will change color from Fall to Winter to Spring.....Tom

 

[Dav4]

I have been trying to figure out why they won't grow around here for years, especially considering that there is a species native to the Florida Panhandle (Taxus floridana). I've had several failed attempts both in the ground and in containers. I do have a Cephalotaxus in my landscape, but they're just not the same with a spreading suckering habit. To tell you how bad it is, they don't even sell true yews at the nurseries here, and we all know that nurseries will only sell you things that will survive in your climate

My yews have been in N. GA 4 years this June and they seem to do just fine. They seem to grow a bit slower, but that would be the only change I've noted in the last 4 years here.

 

[Stan Kengai]

My yews have been in N. GA 4 years this June and they seem to do just fine. They seem to grow a bit slower, but that would be the only change I've noted in the last 4 years here.

And that's what makes it even more perplexing. My original interest in yews came from a member of the AtlBS who had brought a mature one from up north, as you have. His had been here for over 10 years and was in very good health. At the time, I didn't have the income to spend several hundred dollars on a mature specimen, so I tried growing them from nursery stock that I had to have shipped from the NE. I must have tried 15-20 plants of 1 to 3 gallon size over a 5 year period. The longest I could get one to live was about 3 years, but it seemed to be in slow decline after the first summer.

Maybe there is a difference between juvenile and mature plants that allows the mature to survive here. But with my experience with the juveniles, I'm very reluctant to pay for a mature specimen.

 

[mcpesq817]

Yes - very difficult physcially to dig one out as a typical North-eastern US, foundation planting.

Are you saying these are difficult to dig? I've found them to be very easy, as the roots spread radially and don't go very deep. You may have multiple planes of roots to deal with underground, but at least you're not dealing with a deep thick taproot.

 

[october]

One of my favorite bonsai is the Kevin Willson Yew. I love this tree. I do not know the dimensions, but I imagine it is pretty large. I think a tree like this would make an incredible shohin as well. Imagine this yew only about 8 inches tall.

Rob

 

[Poink88]

Nice but not sure about the canopy being that straight on both sides. Could be much better visually IMHO with minor tweak.