Tag Archives: Yew

Nov 17 2015

First Styling of the BIG Yew including Time Lapse Video

This is the first styling of the BIG Yew Bonsai, I have waited three years since the tree was potted into this pot, it was VERY healthy so now perfect for the work involved. There are no short cuts when it comes to creating a Yew Bonsai from raw yamadori stock, its a long process of structure, branch creation fine branches and foliage. I guess from mountain to Exhibition this will take 20 years, its already been 8 years since this tree came from the mountain, you can read earlier blog posts where I cut the tree in half, and Potting the tree for the first time

Jul 22 2015

Tall yew is filling out

I am happy with this tall yews development, the foliage is filling out well, the lower right hand branch needs a few years to fill out but its worth the wait. I have purchased a lovely Japanese exhibition quality pot that the tree will be finally placed.

tall yew

Apr 3 2015

Llangernyw Ancient Yew Tree one of the oldest trees in the world

This Yew tree lives in the churchyard of St. Dygain’s Church in Llangernyw village. We all know that is very hard to determine the age of yew trees, the churchyard gate holds a certificate from the Yew Tree Campaign in 2002, which states that “according to all the data we have to hand” the tree is dated to between 4,000 and 5,000 years old. There is an alternative theory that presumes the tree is only as old as the adjacent saint site which would make it around 1,500 years old.

I visited the tree earlier this year with Mikey and my dear old friend Martin, and believe it’s important that we recognize the importance of these ancients… both for generations to come and for inspiration. We finished the visit to the excellent ‘The Old Stag’ for beers and a spot of Lunch…excellent

Jan 26 2015

Bending a twisty Yew to improve the trunk line

I have had this Yew for over 20 years and it has had major bending done on the lower part to bring the foliage closer to the trunk, this took 3 years to fully ‘set’ and stay in position. The tree was exhibited last year on a pile of book at the Noelanders Trophy and most liked the display and a few traditionalists were horrified. Over the years the tree has been in a variety of pots some crazy… and some not. This is because the tree has been like a petulant child, difficult making the tree do what I want. And finding the best pot has been a challenge.

I have always had issue with the distance of the foliage in relation to the trunk line, combined with the lower trunks movement has never fully been utilized. Having done such extensive carving to reduce the bulk of the upper part the live vein was thinned to a flat part at the rear of the tree. With a bit more carving to thin out the deadwood bending this area would be a simple process. This would pull the tree together and solve a lot of the awkward shapes and angles in the tree. The wire was held in place with cable ties and the tree was bent through and angle of 30º I did not wrap the tree with raffia because the bend was so subtle and the wires and ties held the whole together well.

Calligrapher_0012

I am very happy with the final dynamic appearance; I love the angle of the Ten Jin, the movement of the lower trunk and the compact nature of the whole image. The training pot will help the tree thicken up the live vein and meanwhile I can concentrate on filling out the foliage.

Here are some early photos of the development and crazy pots followed by progress photos of the bending done.