How to Grow and Cultivate Northern Yew? Detailed Method Explained

✤

Northern yew is a type of tree in the arbor family. This tree is very tall, reaching 20 m and above, with a diameter at breast height of up to 1 m. The bark is reddish-brown with shallow cracks. The branches of northern yew are flat-spreading or slanting upward and upright, and densely growing. The base of its branchlets has persistent bud scales, and the one-year-old branches are green, turning pale reddish-brown after autumn. The 2-3 year old yew branches are reddish-brown and yellowish-brown. The winter buds are pale yellowish-brown, with bud scales tapering to a point at the tip and longitudinal ridges on the back.

  Northern yew is suited to growing in cold, humid acidic soil, and is often scattered in forests. Northern yew is a shade-tolerant tree with slow growth and a shallow root system, but its lateral roots are relatively well developed. It likes to grow in moist soil rich in organic matter and is cold-hardy. It grows better in places with higher air humidity. At the same time, northern yew is also a plant that likes shade and fertilizer, and fears drought, waterlogging and high temperatures. During dormancy it can withstand low temperatures of -42°C without frost damage. When the summer temperature exceeds 30°C, growth slows down, and if the temperature continues to rise, growth stops.

 ✤How to Grow and Cultivate Northern Yew
  1. Choosing the planting site. Northern yew is suited to living on shady mountain slopes and in sparse woodlands. Growing this plant requires moist, fertile and loose soil, preferably sandy loam with good drainage. Swampy land, clay and dry high ground are not suitable for planting northern yew. For the seedling bed, we should choose sandy loam close to a water source with loose, fertile soil; land with shade is even better. Then apply fertilizer, and finally deep-plow 25-30 cm, level and harrow fine, and make beds 1-1.2 m wide, 15 cm high and 10-15 m long, ready for sowing.
  2. Transplanting the saplings. The seedling age for transplanting northern yew is generally 2-year-old seedlings to 3-year-old or older greenhouse seedlings. Generally, after the seedlings grow for 2-3 years, they can be planted at a row spacing of about 80 cm and a plant spacing of 70 cm in the previously selected shady slopes and flat land. Also note that when planting on flat land, sufficient barnyard manure and an appropriate amount of inorganic fertilizers such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium must be applied in the planting holes, and before planting it is best to soak and disinfect with a carbendazim solution.

  3. Field management and care.
  (1) Water conditions. If northern yew is planted in a large field, the irrigation method is mainly sprinkler irrigation and the irrigation amount needs to be controlled, so that the soil does not become compacted and irrigation is uniform. For northern yew cultivation in forests, hole irrigation is generally used. The seedlings need a large amount of water during the rapid growth period, and special attention must be paid to drought problems during the seedling stage. Irrigation water should be applied continuously. After soil topdressing, water should also be applied immediately, and irrigation should be done in the morning or evening, because at these times evaporation and the differences between water temperature and ground temperature are relatively small.
  (2) Weeding and fertilizing. The seedling land of northern yew needs timely removal of weeds to prevent weeds from hindering the water, nutrients and light conditions needed for yew growth, so that yew seedlings can grow robustly with well-developed root systems. Also, considering that yew is a medicinal tree species with great special medicinal value, herbicides should be used cautiously when weeding; manual weeding is best as the main method so as not to damage its value. Fertilization for northern yew is mainly soil topdressing. Before field planting, fertilizer should also be applied appropriately according to soil fertility.

 
Conclusion:In addition to its extremely high medicinal value, northern yew also has very high ornamental value, which is an advantage unmatched by other yew varieties. This yew has many lateral branches, red branches and green leaves, and a graceful plant shape. The red berries it produces are also very colorful and beautiful, much like southern love peas. Therefore, it is very beautiful when used to make rare ornamental potted plants and for courtyard planting decoration. The above is a brief introduction brought to you by the editor on how to grow and cultivate northern yew, and I hope it can be helpful to friends.

Yew Bonsai Cultivation Methods Yew Bonsai Cultivation Precautions

Yew is evergreen throughout the four seasons, precious and elegant, and is especially shade-tolerant, making it very suitable for long-term placement indoors. Placing a few pots of yew in a room can both reflect the owner's nobility and aesthetic awareness and decorate the room elegantly. So what are the yew bonsai cultivation methods, and what should be noted during cultivation? Below, the editor will introduce the yew bonsai cultivation methods for everyone!

Introduction to Yew

Yew is an evergreen tree with an upright trunk. Because of its graceful plant shape and deep green leaves, yew is also very effective when used to make bonsai. In its place of origin it can grow to 20 m tall, but potted plants are generally controlled at 1 to 3 m, or even shorter. The epidermis of roots, branches and trunks is reddish-brown. Yew likes cool climates and can withstand low temperatures below minus 30°C, with super strong cold resistance. The most suitable temperature for yew growth is 20-25°C, and the most suitable soil is sandy soil with good drainage.

Yew Bonsai Cultivation Methods

1. Repotting: After a yew bonsai has been planted for two years, the sapling gradually grows larger and its root system becomes more developed, so the original flowerpot no longer meets the needs of yew growth, and it must be repotted into a larger pot for cultivation. When transplanting, it is best to break the old pot rather than damage the original soil ball, slowly move it into the new pot, and water to settle the roots. For yew bonsai, choose a slightly larger flowerpot, and make more holes in the lower part of the pot to enhance the pot's water permeability and air permeability.

2. Soil: For yew planting, the soil should be loose, rich in humus, fertile, and slightly acidic (pH=5-6.5). Loam is best, and a mixed cultivation substrate can also be made from peat soil, perlite, etc. and loam. If the pot soil is slightly compacted, loosen the surface soil of the yew bonsai in time.

3. Light: Yew likes shade and tolerates drought, and should be placed indoors. In summer, moderate shade is needed; do not place it in a room with western sunlight, and do not place it at an air-conditioning outlet or next to a heater, as that will cause the water in yew leaves to evaporate, leading to dehydration of branches and leaves, and finally curling and drying of the leaves.

4. Watering: Yew should be watered appropriately, and the frequency of watering depends on the degree of soil dryness and wetness. If the surface of the yew pot soil slightly turns yellow-white and the leaves are slightly curled, there is no need to water; just spray the yew leaf surface. When the soil turns white, the yew bonsai should be watered. Note that when watering, water thoroughly at one time so that the yew bonsai fully absorbs enough water. Water thoroughly so that the pot soil absorbs enough water. Watering too much or too frequently will cause yew root rot, and long-term drought and water shortage are also not conducive to yew growth.

5. Fertilizing: Newly purchased yew bonsai already use prepared nutrient soil, so no fertilization is needed within 3 months. After that, fertilize once every 2 to 3 months. Yew should not be given chemical fertilizers; cake fertilizer is best. When fertilizing, operate along the edge of the pot and avoid touching the bonsai roots.

6. Pruning: For newly purchased yew bonsai, because part of the root system is damaged when transplanted from the planting base into the flowerpot, the nutrient supply between roots and branches and leaves becomes unbalanced. If the leaves still curl and dry while the pot soil remains moist, it is best to properly prune the bonsai branches and leaves to reduce excessive consumption of nutrients by branches and leaves and restore root growth. Pruning can create any shape, trimming it into various forms such as umbrella-shaped, tower-shaped, and round.

7. Pests and diseases: In high-temperature and drought seasons, individual young yew trees may develop leaf blight and red blight, which can be controlled by spraying 1% Bordeaux mixture.

Yew Bonsai Cultivation Precautions

1. For newly purchased yew bonsai, it is best to spray the leaf surface with 800 to 1000 times diluted potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution every three or four days, generally before 10 a.m., or at around 4 p.m. After spraying continuously three to four times, gradually reduce to once a month.

2. The northern climate is dry with little rain. When the soil surface is dry, water it, and note that it should be watered thoroughly at one time, especially in summer. The northern air is dry, and the leaf surface is prone to drooping from lack of water. When the leaf surface appearance is not plump, use a small spray bottle to spray water on the leaf surface from bottom to top (in summer it can be sprayed every day).

3. In summer, moderate shade is needed. In winter, at minus 20°C, yew does not need insulation. However, during the dormancy period (early December of the current year to the end of February of the following year), it should not be watered.

4. Yew bonsai should not be watered with tea water, especially because Beijing's water is relatively hard and has high alkalinity. The water must be left standing for one day before being used for watering and spraying.

5. In central China, the annual yew growth period is from early April to the end of October. During this period, outdoor plants should be watered once every 15 to 20 days, and indoor plants once every 20 to 25 days.

6. Watering yew too much or too frequently will cause yew root rot and lead to death. Especially when there is heavy rain in summer, outdoor plants should have excess rainwater drained away in time to prevent yew from being soaked in water for a long time.

Taxus media Yew Cultivation Techniques

  Yew is the general name for plants in the genus Taxus. The genus has about 11 species, distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. China has 4 species and 1 variety.

  Yew is a shallow-rooted plant, with an inconspicuous main root and well-developed lateral roots. It is recognized worldwide as a natural rare anti-cancer plant on the verge of extinction. It is an ancient relict tree species left over after the Quaternary glaciation, with a history of 2.5 million years on Earth. Because under natural conditions yew grows slowly and has poor regeneration ability, for a long time no large-scale yew raw material forest base has been formed worldwide.