Yews
Michael Tigue
old home is going to be raised, farmland cleared, redevelopment of office
parks, etc. Constant supply of information on and access to potential
material.
Yews are abundantly used in local (by local, I mean northwest Kentucky)
landscaping. I am always running into yews that are going to be torn up and
discarded and I usually pass them by. The reasons, I don't know much about
yew and the foliage typically begins 24 to 48 inches on very thin non-
tapering trunks. Usually multiple trunks.
Because of some of the beautiful specimen yews I've seen, should I be
passing these by so freely?
My questions:
(1) Is the typical home landscape yew, a species used in bonsai?
(2) Do they bud-back on very old wood? Some of the trees I've encountered
are on sites that date back to the early 1900s.
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Jean-Christophe Godart
<m...@GDM.COM> wrote:
> I'm a landuse lawyer. Hence, I am constantly involved in projects where an
> old home is going to be raised, farmland cleared, redevelopment of office
> parks, etc. Constant supply of information on and access to potential
> material.
>
> Yews are abundantly used in local (by local, I mean northwest Kentucky)
> landscaping. I am always running into yews that are going to be torn up and
> discarded and I usually pass them by. The reasons, I don't know much about
> yew and the foliage typically begins 24 to 48 inches on very thin non-
> tapering trunks. Usually multiple trunks.
>
> Because of some of the beautiful specimen yews I've seen, should I be
> passing these by so freely?
Noooo.
>
> My questions:
>
> (1) Is the typical home landscape yew, a species used in bonsai?
Yes, both Taxus bacata and T. cuspidata.
>
> (2) Do they bud-back on very old wood? Some of the trees I've encountered
> are on sites that date back to the early 1900s.
Yes, they back bud easilly. Leave some green at the tip to keep the sap running.
--
Jean-Christophe Godart, Wavre, Belgium, USDA Zone 8a
jc(AT)freesoft(DOT)be http://www.multimania.com/jcbonsai/
Fiches & FAQ Bonsaï : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/michel.viala/fiches-bonsai/
Photos Bonsaï : http://photo.bonsai.free.fr
Flagg, Dave
>Yews are abundantly used in local (by local, I mean northwest Kentucky)
>landscaping. I am always running into yews that are going to be torn up and
>discarded and I usually pass them by. The reasons, I don't know much about
>yew and the foliage typically begins 24 to 48 inches on very thin non-
>tapering trunks. Usually multiple trunks.
>
>Because of some of the beautiful specimen yews I've seen, should I be
>passing these by so freely?
>
>
>(1) Is the typical home landscape yew, a species used in bonsai?
>
>are on sites that date back to the early 1900s.
Michael,
Yews make, IMHO, outstanding bonsai, particularly if left to their own
devices for a few decades in landscape use. I live in So. Ohio, and
frequently pick up material for bonsai from landscape supply houses.
While I was not planting landscapes in 1900, most of the yews I see in
landscape use are Taxus medii, usually crossed with something else. As they
are usually trimmed with large shears or electric hedge clippers, they often
will have decent taper and some branch break-back already. No matter
though, as they will break back on ancient wood, if given half a chance.
They have incredibly hard wood, which resists rot and has very few pests,
and makes excellent jin.
I am working with one Taxus medii X Brownii, var. Chadwickii, right now.
Excellent trunk movement, nice compact root mass, deep green foliage. Once
transitioned from a balled and burlaped ball of green (landscape use), it
has the potential to be a very nice specimen. I'm not rushing this one's
development; it commemorates the birth of my son, so it has at least his
lifetime to go.
To get Taxus sp. to break back on old wood, you must cut it back hard. I do
not recommend cutting back past the last live shoot, but others may have had
luck doing so. Give it light and air on that old wood, then wait. Mine is
gradually breaking back further and further towards the trunk. I wholly
expect to have to re-grow all but the lowest branch from scratch, and my
Taxus seems to be making this a real possibility. Don't forget to clean out
all of the old hard field soil (I assume your soil is a full of clay as
mine, we're not far apart geographically) and give it fresh, well draining
soil to grow into.
I'm nowhere near the stage of developing fine ramification, but it appears
that judicious pruning of the current year's shoots should yield excellent
branching over time.
Now, can I interest you in some help collecting some of these giant
landscape specimens?
David S. Flagg
UNIX SysAdmin
UDSA Zone 6, Sunset Zone 37
VSAI
BonsaiBum
>>>Yews are abundantly used in local (by local, I mean northwest Kentucky)
>>>landscaping. I am always running into yews that are going to be torn up
and
>>>discarded and I usually pass them by.
Can I be your friend....? ;)
Colin Lewis
Bons...@btinternet.com
http://go.to/bonsai