Anyone interested in Chicago Yew Yamadori

[fore]

Dario, from above " On the 4th one, 1. I was wasted and didn't have the energy to get it, but 2, it was but ugly. Nothing but a straight trunk for 3', then branching...looked like a harborvitae really" So yes, too tired, and wasnt worth anything.

Ok, lucked out that today was the tree trimming day. So the guys helped me get the trees onto tables. So now all I have to do is clean the roots (plan on barerooting them), and plop them into the wood boxes.

So here's a bunch of pics. There's one pic of damage I did to the bark as I couldn't find any other area to put my nylon staps around that wouldn't rip off from the come along. I hope it's not too bad for any final design.

 

[fore]

The rest of the pics. The damaged is the last, though I think all had a bit of bark damage. The second one here is the base of the largest tree.

I have enough wood to make 2-12"Tx24"x24" boxes, and 1-8"Tx24"x24". I think one may have to have it's roots cut back a bit to fit in the 8" board. (HDepot only had 2 8'x12" boards) And I bought screen door material for the base and I'm just going to run a few slats on the bottom for support.

 

[Poink88]

Awesome looking trees from what little is shown, can't wait to see the base/nebari area.

I feel like rushing there with my lopper!!! LOL. Good luck, hope you get the design vision and have the courage to reduce these as needed. For now, just find & remove useless branches. Eliminate problems...those for me are low lying fruit and easy to take care of right away. Once simplified and less cluttered, finding a design can get easier (or not).

My mantra is concentrate new growth where you need them (not where you will remove them down the road). Remember to allow for some deadwood!!!

 

[tmmason10]

This might be silly as they are used for hedging, but you can cut back yews like deciduous trees?

 

[fore]

Me too Dario, can't wait to see them potted up lol My problem is it's not that easy to see what should or shouldn't come off. I've never worked with such raw material/urban yamadori before. So this is all pretty new to me. It might be a bit more obvious once I open it up, work on the roots and pot it up. Have to wait and see.

I'll post pics tonight if I can get the work done today.

 

[mcpesq817]

Wow, nice score. I can only imagine how sore you must be I think you'll be really happy with the bases and spreads on some of them.

On the question about cutting back yews, I've found that you can cut them back very hard. That being said, I've always left some foliage on the tree. Not sure if a bare branch/trunk stripped of all foliage will back bud - I'd be curious if that's the case.

 

[tom tynan]

Generally - it is best to cut back the yew hard - when it is in the ground and therefore it will then react with strong backbudding. The problem is when collecting one of these monsters that has a full 4 to 6 foot crowns you don't have time to do both, ie. prune back hard and then wait a year. If you do that method you then dig up the tree and the new growth is lower and tighter to the base of the tree - which is what you want to create a bonsai.

I have done it both ways (prune back hard, wait a year and then dig up) as well as just dig the entire yew and then prune back. The second method is longer and it takes longer to developthe tree. Many of the long branches that don't have much green left on them will not back bud. In this case - it is just a longer waiting period as it will take the tree 2 to 3 full growing seasons to build up a new root mass and then start to push new foliage. You should not expect to be able to do too much to these trees until this cycle is complete. Good coarse substrate, lots of drainage holes in the boxes/crates and plenty of fertilizer (holly tone) will all help push good low growth. Good luck and get some rest....Tom

 

[fore]

Good idea Tom, but agree, when collecting, you can't do both. I'll keep this in mind if I ever have the opportunity again but with more time.

mcpsq, I'm pretty sure I'll have some back budding on the trunks, but it'll take 2-3 yrs to really get going. Or so I'm hoping.

 

[coh]

I wouldn't mind having one of those to play with, but I don't think I'd survive the digging process. Found a couple of similar-sized ones on the side of the road a few weeks ago, but they'd been sitting there quite a while (roots all dried up) and the trunks were severely damaged during the excavation process. Decided I have enough projects for now. I do keep looking for freshly dug ones...

Have fun!

Chris

 

[fore]

I hear ya Chris! lol I'm 51, but am thin and in reasonable shape. But it took everything out of me. I found these in the free section of Chicago's craigslist. Every spring, people are looking for a free way to get rid of oversized trees. Last week there was another listing for 4-5' boxwoods. So maybe that's what you can do next spring, but offer to only take one.

 

[berobinson82]

What section of craigslist are you looking? I've had little luck.

 

[lackhand]

What section of craigslist are you looking? I've had little luck.

I've been looking in Phoenix too without much luck. Most of what I see are either not good species (palm trees) or way too big to do much with. I actually found two listings that seemed good, and both times I got stood up. It was pretty annoying. I've been thinking about putting my own listing up and specifying what kind of plants I'm looking for. Has anybody tried that?

 

[coh]

I hear ya Chris! lol I'm 51, but am thin and in reasonable shape. But it took everything out of me. I found these in the free section of Chicago's craigslist. Every spring, people are looking for a free way to get rid of oversized trees. Last week there was another listing for 4-5' boxwoods. So maybe that's what you can do next spring, but offer to only take one.

I'm also 51 (next month) and in pretty good shape overall, but I do have some back problems and have to be really careful about certain things...like digging heavy trees/shrubs out of awkward spots, unfortunately.

As for craigslist...I've occasionally seen listings for free shrubs (you dig, etc) but most of the stuff is smaller and usually euonymus or Japanese holly around here. I do keep looking.

Chris

 

[coh]

I've been looking in Phoenix too without much luck. Most of what I see are either not good species (palm trees) or way too big to do much with. I actually found two listings that seemed good, and both times I got stood up. It was pretty annoying. I've been thinking about putting my own listing up and specifying what kind of plants I'm looking for. Has anybody tried that?

I know someone who tried that last year, but had no luck. To succeed, it requires, of course, that the person with the shrubs/trees they want to get rid of searches craigslist to see if anyone is looking for said plants. I don't know how likely that is...

What section of craigslist are you looking? I've had little luck.

In terms of searching for available plants - have you tried the "free" section of craigslist? Try search words like "dig", or "shrubs", or "plants". Many people don't know what types of plants they have, so they'll list them that way (as opposed to "euonymus", "yew", etc).

Chris

 

[fore]

What section of craigslist are you looking? I've had little luck.

Try CL chicago for sale / wanted free stuff

 

[Poink88]

In terms of searching for available plants - have you tried the "free" section of craigslist? Try search words like "dig", or "shrubs", or "plants". Many people don't know what types of plants they have, so they'll list them that way (as opposed to "euonymus", "yew", etc).

Chris

I agree, this is what I do too. Just start with the free section then go to the Craigslist main search and search for; shrub, shrubs, bush, bushes, hedge, hedges, plants, trees, etc

If it was not obvious, CL search is not smart enough to equate shrub to shrubs. Lets save more of these trees guys!

Good luck!

 

[fore]

Got the med. one potted up. Had a really thick root mass that I didn't want to cut off, so it's in a 12"D box...more than I typically like. I have the huge one cleaned out, and soaking in KLN while I eat lunch. It's going to be able to fit into a 8"D box which is good. I'll do the smallest one tom. Pics to follow.

I don't know, do you guys think I should start a new thread now that the trees are in boxes?

 

[fore]

Ok, I'll just keep this thread going till the trees are established, then I'll start a new thread on them.

Here's a bunch of photos of the two I got done yesterday...took from 11am-8pm. Thank god for pain killer lol


This shows the box construction, and the med. one in the 12"D box. I forgot to take a pic of the root mass apparently. It was all fine roots as I did cut off huge chunks of the roots.
This one is the most boring of all three. Straight trunk for the first 10". Though I think I can make something nice out of it, just more carving on the lower trunk...hopefully.

 

[fore]

I took more pics of the largest one. After cutting off the lg. chunky wood parts, I was able to just fit this in a 8" box. This is the best one in terms on trunk movement imo.

 

[fore]

And one more shot of yest's work:

And the smaller one is pretty nice too. Off to do the work in a bit.