Best soil type for yew that needs some Revival

HoneyHornet

Shohin
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Typically I would just pot it up but i have to inqure before taking this one home

About a week ago I spontaneously came across a nice old yew and busted out my folding shovel from the trunk as I was eager to take it home.. transplant would have went perfect because the dig up went very well and also it was strong with new growth and just looked healthy all around other than lead that was dead but had nice prospect for good jin/shari...i digress..

I pulled it up and as I was wrapping it in a plastic bag for the trip home I noticed that the root ball was pretty much infested with ants , larva and all.. this by no means ruled the shrub out but it did make it impossible for me to take home at that given moment because I have a stroller in my trunk and a car seat in my backseat and did not want to risk having ants everywhere around my baby stuff.. I've been meaning to get back to it but anyone I know with a pickup truck has been busy and so have I with work and time kind of got away from me..
Any way throughout the week I stopped by on my way home from work to give it some water because it's been incredibly dry since then.. it's new bright green growth is now limp ..not yellow or crispy or anything..but limp..

Is it possible to rejuvenate this shrubs spring push to stand nice n happy again? I have a friend lined up for tomorrow with a truck and we are going to rescue finally..

I know the yew is incredibly durable and resilient but its been weighing on me how i kind of screwed it over...

My most common mix is 60/40 inorganic/organic
consists of
inorganic : fullers earth (safe-T-sorb) which i love btw, and turface(which i am out of but may make a trip to buy another sack)

organic mix: of bumper crop(which is a phenominal compost blend sold near me consisting of sphagnum peat moss, well aged compost, perlite, kelp meal, dehydrated hen manure, lobster and seaweed) and fir bark

This mix works well for me with variety of species..and prob will be fine here as well....my question is just to see what experienced members would do about a limp yew

I plan on using some white vinegar on thems ants too btw
 

HoneyHornet

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I'm realizing I did not take a picture of its current status but this is it
 

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HoneyHornet

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Before anyone starts worrying about taking shrubs from an apartment complex first note that I have done tree removal for many years and a buddy of mine who still works for the company told me they are changing their landscape up soon and gave me the heads up I could take it
 

HoneyHornet

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I’m always a big fan of newly collected trees going directly in to 100% pumice. You may need to water a bit more, but it ensures quality oxygenation for a depleted root system.
I def need me a supply of pumice..but since i dont have it and will be extracting it tomorro i wont be able to make that happen lol..perhaps i could throw in a dose of perlite to my mix to add a little more aeration
 

leatherback

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Maybe as a nice encouragement for you..

This was a container plant for a bit at 90F+. And when I mean container, I mean skip, and not pot..
Took it home. Treated against all the infestations I could detect (Aphid, scale) and potted it by just backfilling the pot with old substrate rests I had from repotting. Pumice, calcinated clay, composting bark.. Did not touch the roots. It sulked for a year.

After potting September 2018.
20180916_TB08_taxus_1.jpg

September 2019 however..
20190901_R14A2112.jpg
 

HoneyHornet

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Maybe as a nice encouragement for you..

This was a container plant for a bit at 90F+. And when I mean container, I mean skip, and not pot..
Took it home. Treated against all the infestations I could detect (Aphid, scale) and potted it by just backfilling the pot with old substrate rests I had from repotting. Pumice, calcinated clay, composting bark.. Did not touch the roots. It sulked for a year.

After potting September 2018.
View attachment 376475

September 2019 however..
View attachment 376476
Excellent yes this is good , maybe it will recover then..i know an old yew at my dads that was like 10 foot that was like a super shabby tree staryed coming back after i deadwooded it years ago..tree looked like a goner and i chopped it in half and took the branches back and removed some very dead wood..and just the other day it is backbudding all on the trunk noticed
 

HoneyHornet

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Looks good. What did you end up using?
For my organic I made a mix i use this great compost called bumper crop basically even parts to fir bark..and then went about 60 40 bias toward inorganic which i use safe T sorb (fullers earth..i have luck eith that typically so hopefully i will again..its what i have on deck and grown to like as of now..was gunna pick up 50 ob of turface but the supplier was closed today so went with my usual
 

HoneyHornet

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Looks like you have a killer tree on your hands there. Good catch!
Thank you! My only concern is that i wasnt able to fully de-ant it ..do u think it needs to be pulled and fully complete that task or if i white vin the soil some more it will halt their progress? I was thinking i should of maybe submerged the rootball in a bucket of water to drown them out? Tho ive heard that can take longer than the tree would prob like to be underwater..i poured a bottle of vin into the cavity they were predominant but i dont think id did the job completely..im guessing they are what killed that other branch i just wouldnt want them to smoke the rest of the tree
 

Jiminsauga

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Since we're talking ants, why not try some bait? Never had ant problems, but this is the first thing that came to mind.
Screenshot_20210524-085353~01.png
 

leatherback

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I would guess submerging the tree for an hour would not kill the tree, but would make ants very uncomfortable. In fact, I would bet within minutes they would look for a way out, which is what you need.
 

HoneyHornet

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I would guess submerging the tree for an hour would not kill the tree, but would make ants very uncomfortable. In fact, I would bet within minutes they would look for a way out, which is what you need.
Yea my thoughts as well..perhaps i will give it a shot ..im sure it could handle one more pull
 

Jiminsauga

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If it's as bad as you're described. Submerging the tree for an hour may not be enough. If there's larvae and eggs, water won't have much of an effect on them until they hatch. ant-lifecycle-alamy-H99JY5~01.jpg
 

HoneyHornet

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Wait a second that growth isn't limp in fact it almost looks new woooo whether it's brand new or just standing back up this is good
 

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Wait a second that growth isn't limp in fact it almost looks new woooo whether it's brand new or just standing back up this is good
You got to love springtime. Miracles can happen! I recommend manually removing those ants if possible, and would not disturb the great job you've already done. For me, I'd set it on the bench, snap a beer and then just wait for some crawlies to appear. A six-pack later and you'll have done quite a bit of damage.
 
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