Yew

[just.wing.it]

What do you consider drying out? How often did you have to water? How often do you water?

Well, with the tree that I had in the tiny colander (it is actually a strainer from a commercial dish washer) I was watering it at least 2 times a day, and sometimes more....
I don't really try to water on a schedule, though it ends up that way sometimes....
I try to look at the top of the soil, and if it looks dry, I'll move away some soil near the trunk, to see if it's dry about half an inch under the soil. And usually I can see if the bark is dry or wet, and I can see if the soil itself is damp or not....
The more I think about it, the more I think it's a bad comparison....that tree was a deciduous seedling....we're talking about larger, more established conifers....so maybe it is bad comparison...
Colander next time! I swear!

 

[just.wing.it]

Update:
Couldn't wait to rewire.
Before:

After:
It's a decent start I think...
Please excuse the copper and aluminium together....

I was racing against the rain....
It's OK though...
We'll see what happens next....

 

[Quince]

Wow!
Looks like you pulled that soil back and struck gold. Huge improvement.

I know it's early in development, but do you have any plans for those jins halfway up the tree? Feels like they conflict with the downward slope of the branches.

 

[defra]

Nice another cool yew
This isyour special pot right?
Like it!

 

[petegreg]

Update:
Couldn't wait to rewire.
Before:
View attachment 154159
After:
It's a decent start I think...
Please excuse the copper and aluminium together....
View attachment 154160
I was racing against the rain....
It's OK though...
We'll see what happens next....

I see yews like you. Just one question. You've repotted it twice and twice done nothing with nebari. Maybe you want it the way it is, but I'd put some wire on roots that can still be bent...and spread them a little.

 

[just.wing.it]

Wow!
Looks like you pulled that soil back and struck gold. Huge improvement.

I know it's early in development, but do you have any plans for those jins halfway up the tree? Feels like they conflict with the downward slope of the branches.

Yeah, they'll be shortened once I'm done using them as tie off points...
Not happy with the last attempt to style this one...
Gonna redo it again next year.

 

[just.wing.it]

I see yews like you. Just one question. You've repotted it twice and twice done nothing with nebari. Maybe you want it the way it is, but I'd put some wire on roots that can still be bent...and spread them a little.

The first potting wasn't really a repotting, it was more of a slip potting and back-fill job...I also didn't really know what I was doing at that time.
This is the only tree I still have from my first year of bonsai.
So I will be looking at those roots closer next time.
This one has a long road ahead of it.

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice another cool yew
This isyour special pot right?
Like it!

Yeah, got this pot as a flower pot at my grand father's funeral, as a gift from my employers.

 

[BigBen]

That Yew is looking awesome!
Nice work!

 

[just.wing.it]

That Yew is looking awesome!
Nice work!

Thanks!

 

[miker]

Update:
Couldn't wait to rewire.
Before:
View attachment 154159
After:
It's a decent start I think...
Please excuse the copper and aluminium together....
View attachment 154160
I was racing against the rain....
It's OK though...
We'll see what happens next....

Like the tree (a lot), love the container!

 

[just.wing.it]

Like the tree (a lot), love the container!

I appreciate the kind words!
I don't know if this container will stand the test of time, as it is not a real bonsai pot, but I love it too!
Thanks.

 

[just.wing.it]

OK, OK, OK....
I wasn't totally pleased with the styling this summer, and if I recall I was kinda rushed that day...
So I had another go at it today, with some more time, and I am much happier with the results...

Whatcha think?

Front, left, back, right, and front top...:

 

[BE.REAL]

Well, with the tree that I had in the tiny colander (it is actually a strainer from a commercial dish washer) I was watering it at least 2 times a day, and sometimes more....
I don't really try to water on a schedule, though it ends up that way sometimes....
I try to look at the top of the soil, and if it looks dry, I'll move away some soil near the trunk, to see if it's dry about half an inch under the soil. And usually I can see if the bark is dry or wet, and I can see if the soil itself is damp or not....
The more I think about it, the more I think it's a bad comparison....that tree was a deciduous seedling....we're talking about larger, more established conifers....so maybe it is bad comparison...
Colander next time! I swear!

Great tree, great progression, sometimes amazes me what we find under the soil line! I am inquiring about the stainless colander. Due to my work in sheet metal fabrication, I am experimenting with metal containers, more so with the clander development stages. I have only had limited time with some trees in the st/st . How did you find it to be? Any issues, concerns, overall opinion with it as a container/pot/colander. I do like the pot you have, although not sure if its the tree for it or not, but clearly it has special meaning to you and that is all that matters. Be you!

 

[just.wing.it]

Great tree, great progression, sometimes amazes me what we find under the soil line! I am inquiring about the stainless colander. Due to my work in sheet metal fabrication, I am experimenting with metal containers, more so with the clander development stages. I have only had limited time with some trees in the st/st . How did you find it to be? Any issues, concerns, overall opinion with it as a container/pot/colander. I do like the pot you have, although not sure if its the tree for it or not, but clearly it has special meaning to you and that is all that matters. Be you!

Thanks for the kind words. I have a mugo pine in a stainless colander now for a year and a half.
So far so good.
I do use a thick layer of sphagnum moss to keep the moisture in, works well!

 

[just.wing.it]

I will also say that I am excited about getting some of my Tauxs trees into colanders... mugo seems to like it.
Can't wait to see how the taxus' do.

I have at least 2 smaller ones that will definitely be in colanders this coming spring.....maybe my bigger one too. It grew very strong this year, 2 flushes...I think it's ready. I'll start a separate thread on that one.

 

[just.wing.it]

.... I was getting ahead of myself with all that colander talk...

I'm doing some spring work in a couple yews, and I'll save the others for September.

Removed wire and a couple large branches, simplified the tree and but back a bit.

 

[just.wing.it]

Oookaaay...
Last pics were in May this year...
That was near the end of the first flush of growth.

Today I wanted to update to show the second flush of growth coming in now, both on the tips and interior.

I also wanted to experiment with wiring at this time of year, so I did some crappy wiring on the low branch....we'll see what happens.
(I do know that wiring in winter left me with a bunch of dead branches last year...trying to nail down the best time)
(Also, you may notice some brown spots...its sun damage...frankly I'm surprised my trees are handling the blazing afternoon sun relatively well. Until I moved about 3+ weeks ago, my trees only saw morning-early afternoon sun, full shade during the heat of the day...exact opposite now.)

Before:


After:

Only cut off one crotch shoot...

 

[just.wing.it]

I can't wait to get this one out of the mostly Turface mix and into something better...and I still want to put it into a colander, might be next spring, at this rate.
When I do the colanderization (yeah, I just invented the word colanderization) job, lets say spring '19, I'll leave it there for 2 years or more....then should have a small rootball full of feeders, and can put it in a pot....I'm not sure what that pot will look like, but I'm thinking rectangle, hard corners, reddish unglazed...

 

[VAFisher]

Cool tree man. I killed the only yew I've tried. It was one of my first trees and I haven't tried another.

I might rethink the pot shape you are considering though. The tree doesn't look masculine enough for a rectangle with hard corners. I think it would look nice in an oval or round pot. But there's always the possibility I'm talking out of my ass too.