Harvesting bonsai material from a yew. Questions?

[Javaman4373]

I have a yew shrub in front of one of my barns that is about 8 ft tall. It has 5 major stems and one smaller one emerging from a large woody base. I am in the process of collecting bonsai material from this tree. This summer two air layers are in progress, one on a branch of about 1.25 inch diameter, and one on a large trunk at the base, about 4-5 inches in diameter. The yew was pruned some this spring and has quite a bit of back budding in progress. I am in SW Vermont, so the air layers will have to be cut off before winter. I would like to collect a large trunk on the back side of the yew and it presents two options. One air layer it near its base. Two dig it out in the spring. The latter option would involve cutting it from the base with a chain saw. One advantage of digging it out is it has some nice roots for nebari. My major question is would such a chain saw step be a deal breaker for its survival and making a bonsai.

 

[sorce]

Thinking you have to cut them before winter is your biggest problem, that will likely lead to failure.

Mas Cafe Hombre!

Welcome to Crazy!

Please read this and adapt it to your use.

Radialayer™ a season saver.

Nutters, You may have noticed I almost always jump to recommending airlayers. I don't think I will ever lose my fascination with the process. In attempts to perfect it, I have worked out some tweaks so it is time to share my method. I don't understand haphazardly throwing long...

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I have been thinking....

Those wire pull saws are like 4bucks.

I'd leave one wrapped just under the RadialDisk, so all you have to do to harvest the layer without root interruption is pull that bitch a while.

Easy Peasy I hate fu@kin lemons there are better things to squeeze.

Sorce

 

[Javaman4373]

Whether the air layers work or not, I am leaning toward chopping it back and digging the whole tree up in March. It will have a massive base with 4 big trunks and impressive nebari. I will decide after excavating it, what to do about the different trunks. I think reducing it to two would be the most likely solution. It is similar to this material from a Bjorholm presentation on the web.

 

[leatherback]

My major question is would such a chain saw step be a deal breaker for its survival and making a bonsai.

Well.. This one did not get the chainsaw but a tractor. After which it was left laying in a backyard till I popped by 2 weeks later. It is -barely- alive still, 9 months later.
I would expect if you pay more attention to the way you get it out, it should work. Maybe best to cut the "surface" roots this year, let it root in nice fluffy moist substrate for a year and next year do the dig?

You do realize the weight of Yew wood right?

 

[Javaman4373]

I have a tractor I can use to lift this tree after it is dug out. It will be heavy, especially with the original soil still around the roots.

 

[leatherback]

I have a tractor I can use to lift this tree after it is dug out. It will be heavy, especially with the original soil still around the roots.

ok, good.
Mine is a 2-person tree. Without substrate. (But then again, the roots do not fit inside a wheelbarrow, a little beast).

Here is to hoping big yews live.

 

[Javaman4373]

Another question: If you collect from a site where you have access to water by a hose, does it help to wash off the original soil from the root mass (partially or completely)?

 

[leatherback]

Opinions might differ. I have better experience not cleaning out the roots of yews initially.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Forgive me, this is a fool's errand. You have farm soil and lots of room. You are going to find that the roots, big roots, run for miles. You are going to have zero feeder roots close enough to be useful. Prove me wrong. Start digging someplace with a shovel and see what's there.

 

[leatherback]

Forgive me, this is a fool's errand. You have farm soil and lots of room. You are going to find that the roots, big roots, run for miles. You are going to have zero feeder roots close enough to be useful. Prove me wrong. Start digging someplace with a shovel and see what's there.

You have never dug yew I presume. Yews often have feeder roots ON THE TRUNK. Even if they have 4inch thick mainroots. It is certainly possible to dig large ones like this. I'll admit it is hit and miss. And for the first 2 years you are left wondering. So if you have the luxury of doing a bit of prepwork, I would.

 

[Javaman4373]

Re Forsoothal and leatherback: This yew is only about 4 ft from the barn foundation, so roots in that direction can not go very far. I have seen some feeder roots right up against the base on some limited excavation to get an idea of the root structure. This is a yew I transplanted a number of years ago from my sister-in-law's foundation shrubbery, when she decided to change her landscaping. I will try to find out how many years it has been in its current location. Long enough I imagine to grow some impressive roots. I think I will start a exploratory trench and see what I find.

 

[A. Gorilla]

What does being yewish have to do with it?

 

[leatherback]

What does being yewish have to do with it?

Well, yew know!

 

[Forsoothe!]

Thinking about this, you might consider excavating the roots of the whole thing, or a part that you want as bonsai and if the feeders are too far afield, preform a ground layer on the live line involved. Be aware that that Yew do not share roots. Each branch is connected to, or better said, is an extension of a root and if the root or the branch dies, the other end, the branch or the root, also dies. They are one in the same part of the tree, but separate from their brethren. Every root evolves up to a branch and vice-versa. So, as you look at the critter, you need to mentally follow all the branch lines underground and you must ground layer, or otherwise capture feeder roots connected to every branch and every branch that has no corresponding roots will die. This gets problematic towards the inner core of the trunk.

Since this is such a behemoth, you may have trouble finding a section small enough to work with. You might consider digging it with your endloader, chain-sawing chucks off, making your ground layer, and putting it back for a year.

 

[leatherback]

Be aware that that Yew do not share roots. Each branch is connected to, or better said, is an extension of a root and if the root or the branch dies,

Not sure where this wisdom comes from. It certainly is not what I experience with my yews.
Not that it matters much. You seem to never answer any question I pose you.

 

[Forsoothe!]

What does being yewish have to do with it?

Wm. H., I presume?

 

[R0b]

If I understand you correctly you want to remove one trunk from the cluster and dig it out? I think this is risky but it might work. What I would do is first cut it loose with minor digging let it recover in the current position and dig it up a year later.

thoughts?

 

[leatherback]

remove one trunk from the cluster and dig it out?

Would not be my course of action. If you go this way, minimize the cuts you make. I find the fewer and smaller cuts the easier it is to recover.

 

[leatherback]

To me the interest is not in it being big, but ni it having mutiple trunks. Taking just one just gets you a poorly tapered thick trunk.

 

[Javaman4373]

Forsoothe! Thank you for the info. My plan has been changing as I think about the project and get more info. I have abandoned the ideal of one trunk. I now lean toward a plan that doesn't involved digging it up until the spring of 2022. The small air layer I will cut off before freezing temps, whether it has made roots or not. The large air layer, I am inclined to convert to dead wood if it has no roots, otherwise I will cut it off. I read one recommendation to cut a circle around the root ball with a root cutting spade in late fall 2020 and leave in place. I thought I could do some hard pruning in the spring of 2021 to stimulate more back budding over that growing season. I think a goal of saving only 3 main trunks would be best?? And then plan to excavate it in the early spring of 2022. One suggestion I read was to cut a trench around it and fill it with sand or other rooting media for the 2021 growing season to stimulate feeder root formation closer to the center of the eventual root ball. Do you all think that is a reasonable plan?