I had an opportunity to save two yews from being tossed yesterday, and I'm looking for advice on how to give them the best chance of surviving (I know summer in SW Pennsylvania is not the best time to dig up trees). I took as large of a root ball as I could, but couldn't get much foliage due to the size of the bushes and the size of my vehicle. I washed off the outer layer of muddy clay they were growing in (there is still some at the center of the root ball, didn't want to stress the roots any further) and potted them up in 100% pumice. I unfortunately can't put them into full shade at the moment, my only option is a south facing balcony, but I have tried to shield them best I can with other plants from the summer sun.
My biggest question is how often should I be watering these? And when should I start? I've seen people recommend never letting the substrate dry out fully, while others recommend waiting ~10 days for the roots to callous over before watering again. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!
(I will not be doing any further pruning or re-potting for at least 2-3 years)
by M_Nibbits
5 Comments
I suspect as most of the foliage has been removed, their rate of transpiration will be almost zero, and I know that T. baccata don’t like to be waterlogged.
I would drench them once and let dry for a few days/until the substrate has almost dried out and then continue watering like that.
Good luck, I love T. baccata and yours really lend themselves to the ancient multistemmed ones found here in Scotland. Which is a style I’ve yet to see reproduced in bonsai.
Well my guy, I got news for ya. Yew does great with root cuts. It looks like you have PLENTY of feeder roots on those bad boys, so I wouldn’t worry about that. I would keep them somewhere mostly shaded for a week, and check your soil for moisture frequently. I repot mine and watered immediately, and have not seen any ill effect.
These trees are gonna be absolute beauties in a few years.
Absolutely do not not water for 10 days. Water like a bonsai. Water when the soil drys out.
Don’t let them dry out, yews don’t appreciate it. Else that is looking pretty good, for yew this actually isn’t such a bad time to transplant (I repotted my “big” one about a week ago …) If there’s a good amount of roots in the pumice so they can breathe I’d be pretty confident. Make sure to water the loamy core, it will take up water much slower, and it wouldn’t hurt if some more erodes out of the rootball over time.
Ese árbol te grita por un estilo barrido por el viento semi cascada