Hey all, just wondering if anyone here has ever tried using Canadian Yew for bonsai, or has anyone even heard of anyone using it? I ask because I know a spot not too far from me that there is a good amount of this stuff growing in the woods... But I've tried internet searches to find anything about anybody ever using this species and couldn't really find anything substantial... haha. Thoughts?
Has anyone ever used Canadian Yew??? (Taxus canadensis)
- Thread starter Cypress
- Start date
october
Masterpiece
I have not used it. On another note. In the juniper forum, I asked you how that juniper you chopped a month or 2 ago is doing.
Rob
Rob
I am all for using native trees and yew is one of my favourite species.
... however...
Canadian yew seems terrible as far as I can tell. I've only seen it growing prostrate in the undergrowth. IMO the value of using native species lies in finding collected specimens, and i think you would be hard pressed to find a Canadian yew worth collecting. Hope to be shown wrong one day.
... however...
Canadian yew seems terrible as far as I can tell. I've only seen it growing prostrate in the undergrowth. IMO the value of using native species lies in finding collected specimens, and i think you would be hard pressed to find a Canadian yew worth collecting. Hope to be shown wrong one day.
Oh sorry Rob! Havn't checked my threads in a while... The juniper is still alive and green! But we'll see if it stays that way, haha. Fingers crossed.
Amkhalid, thanks for your input. Canadian yew definitely has a much different growth pattern than say English yew, in that it grows very prostrate basically like ground cover. Though I'm wondering if you found one with an acceptable trunk and wire the actual trunk to a more upright position. I was just thinking of Juniperus procumbes 'nana' since this species is huge in bonsai, yet is grown normally as a ground cover with similar growth patterns to the canadian yew in that regard. Or this species may lend itself very well to a cascade style. Just a few thoughts! The fact that I couldn't locate any info on these as bonsai though tells me they probably are not very well suited for bonsai, but it might be a worthy experiment. I'll have to go track some down and see if any look promising.
Amkhalid, thanks for your input. Canadian yew definitely has a much different growth pattern than say English yew, in that it grows very prostrate basically like ground cover. Though I'm wondering if you found one with an acceptable trunk and wire the actual trunk to a more upright position. I was just thinking of Juniperus procumbes 'nana' since this species is huge in bonsai, yet is grown normally as a ground cover with similar growth patterns to the canadian yew in that regard. Or this species may lend itself very well to a cascade style. Just a few thoughts! The fact that I couldn't locate any info on these as bonsai though tells me they probably are not very well suited for bonsai, but it might be a worthy experiment. I'll have to go track some down and see if any look promising.
I should have added prostrate with wimpy trunks. Procumbens are quite different in that the seem to develop heavier trunks. Also, Taxus canadensis grows in sheltered, comfortable environments so you would be hard pressed to find one with some natural interest.
But get out there and look! I certainly haven't looked very hard. Report back!
But get out there and look! I certainly haven't looked very hard. Report back!
Nomad
Sapling
Interesting that you asked because I was wondering about the same thing. To me, they are similar to juvenile hemlocks that you typically find growing in shady, open areas of forest near streams or lakes, thus allowing a very comfortable amount of space and spread out with wide foliage.
However... A "quick" preface to my point with a hemlock case study:
On very rare occasions, you may find these juvenile hemlocks in an area that is rather harsh: My favorite hemlocks I have collected have come from the edge of a quarry, where they live in a sandier soil, causing some stunting, and have become much, much more exposed to sun than their forest-dwelling friends, causing a yellowish pigment (anyone who has ever seen a hemlock knows of their deep green color). They also transplant much easier than forest friends, and I'm sure there is a better explanation than this, but I simply believe that they are happier, so to speak, when given pre-bonsai training in large pots with loamy forest soil, some watering and extra shade. Eventually their foliage begins to turn the nice dark green color.
So the case lesson, based on my experience, is that if you find a rare circumstance where a (in this case, generally) forest-dwelling species basically accidentally grows in generally unnatural and unfavorable conditions, they may actually suit bonsai better than those that live in very comfortable and native environment.
However... A "quick" preface to my point with a hemlock case study:
On very rare occasions, you may find these juvenile hemlocks in an area that is rather harsh: My favorite hemlocks I have collected have come from the edge of a quarry, where they live in a sandier soil, causing some stunting, and have become much, much more exposed to sun than their forest-dwelling friends, causing a yellowish pigment (anyone who has ever seen a hemlock knows of their deep green color). They also transplant much easier than forest friends, and I'm sure there is a better explanation than this, but I simply believe that they are happier, so to speak, when given pre-bonsai training in large pots with loamy forest soil, some watering and extra shade. Eventually their foliage begins to turn the nice dark green color.
So the case lesson, based on my experience, is that if you find a rare circumstance where a (in this case, generally) forest-dwelling species basically accidentally grows in generally unnatural and unfavorable conditions, they may actually suit bonsai better than those that live in very comfortable and native environment.
Thanks for the input, this definitely makes alot of sense. Especially for Hemlock. I notice you're in upstate NY as well, so you must be referring to Eastern Hemlock then, not western?? Eastern Hemlock is quite possibly my favorite tree and when I started getting into bonsai this past spring I thought I was really excited about the prospect of working with Eastern Hemlock... but then I came to find out that they are apparently not suited for bonsai at all. Which now makes sense based off of what I see in the woods, which I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: (When a specimen does have a thick enough trunk it has virtually no living branches for maybe 10 feet up the tree and is very spindly). So I was pretty disappointed about that being off the table.
But apparently you've been able to find stunted specimens? Have you developed any into mature bonsai already? I would really love to see any pictures you may have! I may have to go on a stunted hemlock quest next spring if it is possible to find specimens suitable to bonsai!
Nomad
Sapling
Ah, yes I mean Eastern, and they are really Shohin styles, and immature. One is a broom style, naturally, which grew on a rock covered in moss by a lakeside, which would have easily died in a short amount of time for lack of soil, and is about 6 inches or so tall. The second is a smaller twin trunk which splits off into maybe five smaller trunks, which I plan on making into semi- to full-cascade, and is currently 6 or 8 inches tall. The last is another multiple trunk style, and I have few plans on what to do with it, and is maybe 11 or 12 inches tall. Those last two were collected from said quarry in the Adirondacks. There are three others I that are staged at our cabin in the Adirondacks that vary in size, shape and so on, but specifics escape me.
If any bonsai artist would look at them, they would immediately think they were sick. However, after months of shade and watering, the nice green color is returning. I do have one that I collected from a forest, which was rather un-remarkable, and lacked compact growth, like most forest-grown Hemlocks.
My next season will see their being wired and pruned, as they are young and hemlocks are very rigorous (one at the cabin I mentioned had all but 2 inches of what was once perhaps a 12 inch trunk removed by natural circumstances, which still confuses me as to what to how to style it, but it is unique). In the next season, I will also collect several other conifers, including tamaracks and Balsam Firs (if you think that finding stunted Hemlocks and Yew would be hard, imagine what the DEC would do if I were ever to try to remove the Fir and Spruce trees from artic-alpine summits), but probably not Yew. Back to the subject, I will share some pictures soon.
As to this belief that Eastern Hemlocks do not make bonsai, sure they take a long amount of time to develop attractive trunks. But:
In bonsai, you must take from your surroundings, and make of it something better.
Hahaha, yea. I've hiked some of the high peaks in the ADKs before and the trees on the summits are amazing. Hundreds of years old but still only a couple feet tall. Probably best to leave them be though!
Looking forward to seeing pics. I did actually collect an itsy bitsy Hemlock seedling in the spring which was growing on basically just moss, I think the soil I put it in shocked it... it croaked. To grow out a hemlock, of all species, from a seedling would take a very long time, but I figured I may be able to control it's growth pattern to be more dense and suited for bonsai, as opposed to most hemlocks growing under full shade in the forest.Nomad
Sapling
My automatic reaction to collected Hemlocks is heavy shade mixed with natural, loamy forest soil, about as black as you can get it, and I make sure that the soil moisture is just moist enough, but never really dry. This has worked remarkably well for seedlings and shohins, but for anything larger, I am not sure. The only one that can be described as a class above shohin was collected two years ago, but I am not sure what methods I took. They are a hardy species, but always favor a foresty-style environment.
