Japanese yew

[Elmnewbie]

So I have the opportunity to collect a Japanese yew from my father and mother in law. We had a very wet spring and it had some die back. He chopped off much off it only leaving the live branches. Its about 30 years old so i figured it wouod make a good bonsai. So any pointers when collecting would be much appreciated.
Sorry for the crappy pictures, my father in law took them...

 

[sorce]

The new growth looks like it's second guessing itself.

I'd wait a year or more if possible.

Sorce

 

[Elmnewbie]

The new growth looks like it's second guessing itself.

I'd wait a year or more if possible.

Sorce

Unfortunately it's now or never. I was at there house fixing his lawn mower and he mentioned he was having problems with them. This yew being the worse of the three. He said he was just going to dig it up and get rid of it. I offered to take it as they make great bonsai. I just wish I would have known how bad of shape it was in before he cut it back. But yes, some of what's left doesn't look great. But I thought I would try and save it instead of just letting him dig it up and throw it in the burn pile.

 

[p_anova]

Collecting a tree this late in Spring is definitely not good, especially with the foliage condition, but I guess you have no choice. Save as much of the root ball as possible. Probably going to be a mess under there but if you want to put it in the work for a tree that will most likely die, that is up to you. Start digging wide around the tree then slowly move in and down until you start hitting roots. Take your time. Throw it in a large shallow container (I use a bus bin with holes drilled in the bottom) with good bonsai soil and keep it in the shade to let it recover. Remove large woody roots in favor of the tiny feeder roots if you need to cut it back to fit in the container but try not to disturb the rootball if possible. Cross your fingers. I'm sure others will chime in with additional pointers.

 

[Elmnewbie]

Collecting a tree this late in Spring is definitely not good, especially with the foliage condition, but I guess you have no choice. Save as much of the root ball as possible. Probably going to be a mess under there but if you want to put it in the work for a tree that will most likely die, that is up to you. Start digging wide around the tree then slowly move in and down until you start hitting roots. Take your time. Throw it in a large shallow container (I use a bus bin with holes drilled in the bottom) with good bonsai soil and keep it in the shade to let it recover. Remove large woody roots in favor of the tiny feeder roots if you need to cut it back to fit in the container but try not to disturb the rootball if possible. Cross your fingers. I'm sure others will chime in with additional pointers.

Thank you for the advice. Im going into this knowing full well that the likelihood of it surviving is slim. But that being said, a yew this old is worth a great deal. So it's worth a few hours and a little bit of soil to try and save it. Plus these opportunities do not come often.

 

[p_anova]

Thank you for the advice. Im going into this knowing full well that the likelihood of it surviving is slim. But that being said, a yew this old is worth a great deal. So it's worth a few hours and a little bit of soil to try and save it. Plus these opportunities do not come often.

Well put. Good luck with it and keep us updated. Take some pictures of the roots. Curious to see what they look like after 30 years.

 

[Elmnewbie]

@p_anova. So. I got her all dug up. It only took me about an hour to get her put of the ground. I was able to save almost the entire root ball with exception of some longer large roots. All in all I think it was a success. I found evidence of scale on her. Which could have been what made her so sad last year. I didn't see anything living. Just dead scale. I cleaned up the chops and put paste on them and supported a large branch that was nicked with the saw when he was cutting it. The pot I found to plant it could have been just a bit deeper but I think it will do until she recovers and I can start reducing the root ball to fit in a smaller pot.

 

[p_anova]

@p_anova. So. I got her all dug up. It only took me about an hour to get her put of the ground. I was able to save almost the entire root ball with exception of some longer large roots. All in all I think it was a success. I found evidence of scale on her. Which could have been what made her so sad last year. I didn't see anything living. Just dead scale. I cleaned up the chops and put paste on them and supported a large branch that was nicked with the saw when he was cutting it. The pot I found to plant it could have been just a bit deeper but I think it will do until she recovers and I can start reducing the root ball to fit in a smaller pot.

I really hope that monster lives! Seems like it has plenty of fine roots. Keep it shaded and fingers .

 

[Elmnewbie]

As do I! It will make a beautiful bonsai someday. It is going to take a few years to reduce the roots down enough to fit into a good bonsai pot but with the three big trunks it will look really good I think. He may have two others that he wants to get rid of too. But I'm going to encourage him to wait until next spring or this fall at least.

I really hope that monster lives! Seems like it has plenty of fine roots. Keep it shaded and fingers .

 

[Elmnewbie]

So despite popular opinion. The Yew lived and started looking decent by the end of the summer. Now, what do I do with it? I plan to reduce the roots a lot to get it out of the massive 9 gallon planter I have it in. What should I do with all the trunks? It has far too many.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Frist let it grow a couple of years at least. My collected bacatta has been out of the ground almost 4 years and is just now getting strong enough to work. I repotted it last spring into a smaller plastic tub from a larger grow box and this year will start getting more branches and backbudding. When you see 6-8 inches of growth extension in the spring on each branch it probably is strong enough to work. I also still need to reduce my roots some and start a bit of carving on those trunks. You need to get on the internet and search for yew bonsai images to see what can be done with those. Also here is good video on yew development.

Taxus Pinching in the spring with Peter Warren

A look at do we pinch the new growth on Taxus in the spring. Some trees yes, other trees now. The how, why and when of it all. We shall have a contribution ...

www.youtube.com

 

[p_anova]

So despite popular opinion. The Yew lived and started looking decent by the end of the summer. Now, what do I do with it? I plan to reduce the roots a lot to get it out of the massive 9 gallon planter I have it in. What should I do with all the trunks? It has far too many.

Where are the pics of that monster????

 

[Elmnewbie]

Where are the pics of that monster????

I'll take a few when I repot in a few weeks. It's still buried in snow next to the house at the moment.