Anyone interested in Chicago Yew Yamadori

[Poink88]

All are very nice...awesome materials!!!

Very busy though and should be reduced more IMHO. Again, look at it and see if you can identify things you won't need later. Very straight branches for example need to be shortened. Trident forks can be reduced to two, etc. Keeping it as is will cause new growth to crowd each other soon and may weaken the ones you want/need. Of course the other side of the argument is that you will have more options later.

Good luck!

 

[tmmason10]

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.

This one looks great! Man, there is a lot to eliminate though. Just keep rotating them and studying them is all I can say.

 

[fore]

Thanks guys. I know I need to reduce them more. It just took all day just to bare root them (prob got 8gal. of dirt per tree) and box them up. I'll have more time today and tom to start really looking at them and reduce them. The cuts you see look awful as my looper is old and won't cut thru the bark. I threw it away yest in disgust. I'll use my 12" concave cutters to prune for some clean cuts. should I use cut paste on the cut off branches? I'm thinking not.

 

[mcpesq817]

Really nice work - they should be fun to play with over the years. Let them settle in for a couple of years and get strong before really working them. I think you'll be glad you spent the time barerooting them now. It's amazing how much fine feeder roots yews put out in good soil even in the first year.

 

[fore]

Thanks man! Making the big boxes, and getting them bare rooted esp. took a TON of time! I hope I do get good feeder roots established now. Oh, and btw, you were absolutely correct about all the fine roots on yews being on more superficial (say 12-14") It was only the thick, 2-5" roots that keep it firm in the ground. That's why I feel pretty good about these trees' survival. I got a ton of roots.

Just finished the last one. I'll post pics as soon as I clean up the tornado like muddy mess out back and find a place for each one. All I have is full sun, and one spot of morning/afternoon with diffuse light, and full late afternoon sun. I may have to put one there.

 

[fore]

I got them all pruned back 'hard', but I realize I could've taken more off. Some are longer, but with green foliage on them, so I left them.

These are so big and heavy, that I'm going to have to leave them out all winter long. Which isn't the best for the first yr. collected, added to no protection from the winter dry winds. This worries me to be honest.

Anyway, here they are with a 4" plastic pot for scale:

 

[Poink88]

Nice and awesome base on all of them!!!

Chris, next time...if possible, make the handles one piece...so much stronger that way. Putting them a bit lower may also help you avoid failure like the 1x8 or 1x12 cracking. Careful on your initial lift!

 

[fore]

Nice and awesome base on all of them!!!

Chris, next time...if possible, make the handles one piece...so much stronger that way. Putting them a bit lower may also help you avoid failure like the 1x8 or 1x12 cracking. Careful on your initial lift!

Dario, I was thinking of you when I posted that note LOL! I figured you'd be telling me to go cut them further! I'm asking one of my mentors for his opinion. When I was cutting back yesterday, I felt like I did enough. But looking at the photos, I'm not so sure.

And LOL, you saw the cracked handles eh?? hehe Man, they lasted like 2 mins, was lucky to get them positioned before I heard "Crack"!! Then I started cursing at the pine wood!!

So, full length handles, and positioned in the middle of the sides. Thanks, I'll give it a try!
I saw a recent post from Jason in Or. I think, a huge tree, but he used 2" thick pressure treated wood so was able to use short handles. I should've thought that one out better as I like the lighter wt. of the pine box. I can only imagine how heavy his box alone was.

 

[Poink88]

Next time...IF there is a next time...I suggest you try these bussing tub.

http://www.acemart.com/food-storage...bus-pans/black-bus-box-tbl1537e/prod6836.html ...I use this TableCraft 21" x 15" x 7" Black Plastic Tote Box a lot. For $6.95 I think it is hard to beat.

Here is a bigger one but I have not used it yet. http://www.acemart.com/prod5731.html

Keep staring at it LOL...you will eventually see what you need and not. Being so massive and if anchored/wired properly to the box, I won't be too worried of any movement if you decide to prune a bit more later (if you do it carefully).

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Good job Chris. Nice material, that will need a couple years to grow and be ready for work.

My buddy in Iowa loves yews. When he collects one, he keeps it in full shade for the year, waters almost never, and mists the foliage several times a day. Once they get established, they're bullet proof.

Here are a couple photos I took of his yesterday to give you a sense of where yours can go in 5-7 years. First photo is his most recent collected yew, dug in March, others were collected 5-10 years ago (he's a gifted carver):

 

[fore]

Good job Chris. Nice material, that will need a couple years to grow and be ready for work.

My buddy in Iowa loves yews. When he collects one, he keeps it in full shade for the year, waters almost never, and mists the foliage several times a day. Once they get established, they're bullet proof.

Here are a couple photos I took of his yesterday to give you a sense of where yours can go in 5-7 years. First photo is his most recent collected yew, dug in March, others were collected 5-10 years ago (he's a gifted carver):

Thank You Brian! And thanks for your friends pics....very gifted collector and bonsai artist! The carving done is fantastic! I'd be so ecstatic if I could ever get to this level!

I've have them under a 70% shade cloth right now. The only 'full shade' I have in the yard is in a corner b/w buildings...no air flow. I've had problems every time I put a tree back there. So I hope the 70% shade will be good enough.

 

[Poink88]

The tree barely have any leaves right now...70% should be plenty protection. You do not want the new leaves to be too weak, lanky, or tender also (result of too little light).

 

[fore]

The tree barely have any leaves right now...70% should be plenty protection. You do not want the new leaves to be too weak, lanky, or tender also (result of too little light).

That's what I was thinking too Dario, just seems the 30% still lets in quite a bit of sun. I have the cloth just draped on the trees right now, I have to figure out a way to hang it...creative, cheap engineering task LOL

Oh, and Brian, I forgot to also Thank You for the sugg. not to water, but mist them. I've been watering them and have been worried about too much water/fungus problems.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Don't drape the shade cloth on the trees, get it up in the air...need good air movement, unless you just never have fungal problems ;-)

 

[fore]

Don't drape the shade cloth on the trees, get it up in the air...need good air movement, unless you just never have fungal problems ;-)

Yeah, it was only temporary till I had time to get it hung. Finished work early, so I just extended the shade cloth to include all the yews. I put the 30% over the 70% for a more 'shade-like' condition. Glad to have them all now potted and placed in a good location. Though I must admit, I did like the collecting part: the chopping down of a huge tree/bush, freeing the roots, and the moment I finally got it separated from it's tap roots. Lifting them into my Bronco I didn't like so much lol

Anyway, here's the setup. Though they are still getting hit with late afternoon sun, like from 4-7pm. I may drape more shade cloth vertically like I did in the original setup (the part with that 2' vertical shade cloth). I'll have to use 30% as that's all I have left.

Oh, just for fun, here's a pic of my new Kishu that I got from Brent a mos or so ago. Simply slip potted from 1->2gal pot. It's growing like crazy. Interesting foliage. And now that I have all 3, Brian, I went back and reread your blog post on the varieties, easier to follow if you have one in hand. Good blog post. Also, very interesting of the variety of the species.

 

[tmmason10]

Yeah, it was only temporary till I had time to get it hung. Finished work early, so I just extended the shade cloth to include all the yews. I put the 30% over the 70% for a more 'shade-like' condition. Glad to have them all now potted and placed in a good location. Though I must admit, I did like the collecting part: the chopping down of a huge tree/bush, freeing the roots, and the moment I finally got it separated from it's tap roots. Lifting them into my Bronco I didn't like so much lol

Anyway, here's the setup. Though they are still getting hit with late afternoon sun, like from 4-7pm. I may drape more shade cloth vertically like I did in the original setup (the part with that 2' vertical shade cloth). I'll have to use 30% as that's all I have left.

Oh, just for fun, here's a pic of my new Kishu that I got from Brent a mos or so ago. Simply slip potted from 1->2gal pot. It's growing like crazy. Interesting foliage. And now that I have all 3, Brian, I went back and reread your blog post on the varieties, easier to follow if you have one in hand. Good blog post. Also, very interesting of the variety of the species.

Nicely done. My first car was an 86 bronco. Loved having the top off, need to get me another one someday!

 

[fore]

Nicely done. My first car was an 86 bronco. Loved having the top off, need to get me another one someday!

Tom, I have a '93, that I was doing rock crawling with it out in Cali. It's lifted 6" and I run 34" mudders on it. Yes, it gets a whopping 9mpg, but it's a blast to drive, has room to transport my two German Shepherds when needed, a huge H. Depot run as it can hold 4'x8' plywood, and this last collection trip it was packed full. I don't drive though normally exc. when I need it. Otherwise, it's the mini cooper lol. But I love my Bronco and don't see me getting rid of it anytime soon. I'd love to get either a full size 78-79, or original small Bronco...not as useful, but it's so cool! Kinda along the lines of the also very cool Toyota FJ series

 

[fore]

Well, following further advice, I cut back the smallest more, the medium length ones left a little longer, and the longest/largest ones I made just a inch or two shorter to fit better under the shade cloth.

They seem to like the misting

 

[fore]

Seems to be responding to the misting well. Doing it 2-3X/day. Haven't watered the soil yet, but we've had quite a bit of rain recently so it's staying wet.
2 spots of brand new foliage, 1/4" big lol, and the remaining foliage is staying green and healthy. Don't want to jinx myself, but, so far, so good.

 

[Joedes3]

Great Job!

Is June to late to dig out a yew? This is really inspiring. I have two yews, one with a 10 to 12 inch trunk and one with a six inch trunk. I live in the Boston area.
Thanks

JoeDes