Interesting Yew

[berobinson82]

I saw this while searching for juniper for the contest. As I'm a big yew lover (Dav4, say "howdy" to Mavis for me), this foliage caught my eye. A bit more blue than cuspidata and smaller leaves. Looks almost like a dwarf variety.

Decent little trunk in there. I'll give it a good chop this fall and see what kind of shohin I can pull out of it.

Cheers,
B

 

[october]

Very nice find. Looks like a great trunk.

Rob

 

[Dav4]

Very nice find. Looks like a great trunk.

Rob

I agree...lots of opportunities for creating deadwood. What does the nebari look like? That, more then the trunk, will determine the front. Looks like a lot of fun in store for you.

 

[berobinson82]

I agree...lots of opportunities for creating deadwood. What does the nebari look like? That, more then the trunk, will determine the front. Looks like a lot of fun in store for you.

I got my fingers dirty when looking at the lot of these. This one seemed to have the best flare under the soil but i'm not exactly sure yet. I look forward to "digging for gold" in the spring. I wish I could find more large yew around. I used to have access to big guys like this one:

http://www.bonsaikuma.com/2013/05/got-yew-in-my-kitchen.html

but they stopped carrying this size. Yew really is my favorite species.

btw, the one from this post is going to get its initial styling this winter. Will post up a thread then.

 

[Txhorticulture]

Not really a yew

It is a nice plant. It is not, however, a yew (yews are in the genus taxus) that is a podocarpus. Podocarpus alpinus.

 

[berobinson82]

It is a nice plant. It is not, however, a yew (yews are in the genus taxus) that is a podocarpus. Podocarpus alpinus.

Makes me wonder if it will need more winter protection in that case. The yews seem to handle the snow and ice fairly well.

 

[Dav4]

Yews are very winter hardy if kept out of the sun and wind...not sure about podocarpus. JKL has kept one in the mountains of NC for a bit, but I suspect it is or has weakened due to the cold winters.

 

[Txhorticulture]

zone 7

it is supposedly a zone 7 plant. i saw a reference online that it has toelrated -13F

 

[berobinson82]

it is supposedly a zone 7 plant. i saw a reference online that it has toelrated -13F

I've an empty garden bed that won't see any use until next spring. I supposed mulching the roots in over the winter wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for the info. I'm kind of surprised and disappointed that Monrovio, being such a large nursery, would mislabel plants like this.

Have they no editing department?

 

[Txhorticulture]

Label ok

I've an empty garden bed that won't see any use until next spring. I supposed mulching the roots in over the winter wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for the info. I'm kind of surprised and disappointed that Monrovio, being such a large nursery, would mislabel plants like this.

Have they no editing department?

They didn't mislabel it 'plum yew' is a common name, although obviously a misleading one, for more than one species of podocarpus. I bet if you looked inside the folding label you would see the correct scientific name, Podocarpus alpinus. They are yew-like in many ways.

You were talking about yew being a species you liked, mentioned t. cuspidata. I just wanted to make sure you knew it wasn't technically a yew. Still a nice plant. I actually think podocarpus are a little more interesting.

 

[mcpesq817]

Bernard, you can get a lot of old yew material for free by hunting on Craigslist. It's hit or miss, but people are always looking for people to do the manual labor of digging out landscape material they want to remove or replace. I've collected a few nice yews that way.

Also, NVBS does these trips to a farm/nursery up in PA where you can dig as many yews as you want for $25 a pop. I think they planted the trees 20+ years ago. It's a bit picked over, but you can find some decent material. They have really huge yews that would probably take a couple of people to remove, medium trees, and smaller trees that have been munched by deer over time. Just don't go after it had rained as the fields are in red clay making for a pretty messy experience (not to mention, the red clay makes the root balls extremely heavy).

 

[berobinson82]

Bernard, you can get a lot of old yew material for free by hunting on Craigslist. It's hit or miss, but people are always looking for people to do the manual labor of digging out landscape material they want to remove or replace. I've collected a few nice yews that way.

Also, NVBS does these trips to a farm/nursery up in PA where you can dig as many yews as you want for $25 a pop. I think they planted the trees 20+ years ago. It's a bit picked over, but you can find some decent material. They have really huge yews that would probably take a couple of people to remove, medium trees, and smaller trees that have been munched by deer over time. Just don't go after it had rained as the fields are in red clay making for a pretty messy experience (not to mention, the red clay makes the root balls extremely heavy).

It seems my craigslist skills are lacking. I know some folks have excellent success with CL but I've never been able to find a thing! How are you searching it? Mind sharing your secrets to success?

Last year we sent a couple folks with NVBS up to PA to dig yews. Unfortunately my weekend was booked and what was leftover was obviously leftovers. The price was right. Next time I'll have to clear my schedule and make the trip.

 

[mcpesq817]

In the past, I've searched using terms like "dig" as most of the ads say "you dig" or something to that effect. Most people want outlandish amounts (and expect you to do the manual labor) but there are times that people want to replace their landscaping and feel bad about throwing out their current material in the trash.

 

[berobinson82]

In the past, I've searched using terms like "dig" as most of the ads say "you dig" or something to that effect. Most people want outlandish amounts (and expect you to do the manual labor) but there are times that people want to replace their landscaping and feel bad about throwing out their current material in the trash.

That search term yielded immediate results. Thanks, Mike! I'll make sure to give that a go this coming March when the timing is better.

Cheers,
B

 

[berobinson82]

Thoughts on two options?

Did some craft time tonight with the kid. Came up with a couple options. Would you mind telling me which one you prefer?

Also, please pardon the cell phone pics. They looked great on the screen.