Aftercare for Yews - Taxus

[just.wing.it]

Holy Taxus!
Wow, never seen this thread....
I can't get enough taxus in my life!
Thanks for adding your lessons learned.

 

[Dalmat]

I had one that was kind of same situation as yours from nursery "junkyard". It was march 2016. I chop of the top, repotted with washed off roots . I left those long branches with foliage only on tips . It is alive now but everything is at it was then,nothing happens. Colleague on Croatian forum has a 10-15 years experience with conifers collected and from nursery. He sad they take even a two growing season to bounce back.
He is still holding his breath when he repot them. Some kick a bucket on him after repot even after a six, seven years in pot.It seems that the roots are compartmentalized like in mugos and branch dies on a side where you take off more roots.

 

[defra]

sad to hear only one made it
ill go slow on my big taxus
first force the foliage back to the base of the trunk and then repot the year after thnx for sharing!

 

[leatherback]

He sad they take even a two growing season to bounce back.

Yup, similar to what I heard from a British friend who collects taxus yamadori. Only once you have a foot of extension in one season other than the season directly following collection can you be certain that it has made new roots.

In my garden I had a double problem: The yews stayed in the greenhouse for winter. And a plague of fungus gnats settled in. So in spring there were those to deal with too. Bad luck, bad timing, harsh treatment combined = Dead trees.

 

[BobbyLane]

Fungus gnats are a tell tale sign the medium is being kept too moist. letting the soil dry out a little usually kills them off. taxus should be kept pretty dry in winter.

 

[leatherback]

I know