Advise on Yew Yamadori

[Mike254]

Hi all,

First time posting here, but I've been browsing for a while.

I collected this old Japanese yew that was a bush in someone's yard. I had a hell of a time getting it out of the ground, and because of the struggle I ended up being more careless to the root ball than I would have liked (I was rushing by the end of it). It had about five 4" to 6" diameter monster roots that were extremely hard to get at and cut.

In the end, it does have a small, maybe 16" diameter rootball. It looks small in comparison to the trees' trunk, anyway. I didn't bare root it, it still has soil around the remaining roots.

My question is, what is the best thing to do to give it the best chance to survive with the limited root system? I have it soaking in water right now, but have read that yews don't like to sit in very wet soil for a long time.

I will take more pictures of it in the pot I have it in later.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gabler]

Put it in the shade and monitor the moisture level of the rootball closely, so it is neither wet nor dry. I haven't collected any yew, but they root easily as cuttings, so I would hazard a guess that the shrub in your pictures will respond well to collection and grow lots of new roots if you just give it some basic protection from wind and sun.

 

[Mike254]

Thanks for the advice, I'll do that.

Attached are some better pictures of the root all and it potted up.

I'm hoping that there are enough roots to recover. I think this was a decent time to collect it here in New England.

Put it in the shade and monitor the moisture level of the rootball closely, so it is neither wet nor dry. I haven't collected any yew, but they root easily as cuttings, so I would hazard a guess that the shrub in your pictures will respond well to collection and grow lots of new roots if you just give it some basic protection from wind and sun.

 

[JRBonsai]

As already stated, it’s best to let it do its thing out of the sun and wind. Yews take about 2-3 years after collection to establish well in pot culture.
Since you’ve potted it in organic substrate you may want to be careful with it staying too wet. Yews really don’t like wet feet, as it hampers their root development.