YEW TREE PROGRESS

Happy New Year to everybody on IBC

I have had this Yew for about 4 years now. The first styling was done at BURRS 2011, here it is prior to any work and with Chris standing behind it.



The tree disappeared into the disabled toilet and Will set too with his carving tools. Will worked on the carving for most of the weekend and did a wonderful job. I now have a tree with some very expressive deadwood carving on it. On the Sunday the tree came out and Tony Tickle selected the branches. They were then wired into place by Tony with help from Nick Rozman and Dangerous Bry, thanks guys. Here it is at the end of BURRS 2011.



A year on and Christmas gave me some time to do some more work on the tree. I like the carving and I think I will have the front so that the viewer can see most of the carving. The upper trunk is a bit straight but not sure what I can do about it.



Here it is from the left. It is 60cms tall.



Please let me know what you think.

Alan

I think the last picture is your best bet from "this" perspective; more action in the trunk and the flow appears natural. The base is not as nice as in the first picture ... decisions, decisions...
Todd

Hi Alan ,
I like the second pic as the front also . Maybe it will be different when the tree is in front of you as the base might not work .

nice tree but alot of the taper was lost after the work was done the first pic has the best taper but i think the best front after the work is done i like the last cause the movement of the trunk. should be a very nice tree once the tree fills out

Hi Alan....

Thanks for the mention... it was MikeyP that helped out with the wiring. It seems we did a good job ;)
Have you re-wired at all this year??
It's been kept nice and healthy. I do like the second photograph as a front, maybe an inch or two further clockwise. Maybe post a 360 vid and chops which 'second fits the best front ;)

This tree has had a great start!! Weldone!!!
Bry

P.s ... Can we have son close ups of how Will's awesome deadwood work looks a couple of years on ;)

Looking good Alan. The deadwood could do with some more detail at the top of the tree now it has seasoned. I prefer the last pictue for the movement in the trunk line.

Hi Alan, nice to see the tree is well on its way

Regards Chris

The deep hollowing techniques I see prominently on european trees always interests me. Could you explain the tools and methods used to achieve the deep hollows with the thin overlaying deadwood?

Perhaps it started by using a drill bit...... down the centre of the tree.....I've used that a few times...works well. It looks like it could originate from one of the larger branches that can be seen before its first styling?
G

No drill bits G but long shafted cutters made by Rudi Spanko in Slovakia. Contact Dale Cochoy as he is importing them to the US. Here is a link to a Yew I carved last year with his tools.
http://wildwoodbonsai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/new-carving-tools.html

I'll agree about the last image being your front. in a few years, the refinement will show a very fine tree

Hi Alan, looking great, the development of the foliage is coming on strong... despite the rotten weather this year.

will baddeley wrote:No drill bits G but long shafted cutters made by Rudi Spanko in Slovakia. Contact Dale Cochoy as he is importing them to the US. Here is a link to a Yew I carved last year with his tools.
http://wildwoodbonsai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/new-carving-tools.html

Damn good job carving that yew Will! Carving big hallows like that though, I'm left wondering how that will impact the tree's long term survival?...I mean, will this rot faster now that a lot of the hardwood is now gone?

Thanks for the nice comments everyone.

Bry - I took the original wiring off in mid-summer and reapplied wire to the lowest branch and just the apex. All the other branches I left unwired. I didn't do any real pruning but then growth seems to have been slow in 2012, not sure why maybe it was the funny weather. Here are a couple of close up pics of the carving



Apologies to Mikey who helped with the original wiring and I got it wrong!

As for which front to use, maybe I will take it back to BURRS in 2013 to get some help.

Alan

Fore wrote:

will baddeley wrote:No drill bits G but long shafted cutters made by Rudi Spanko in Slovakia. Contact Dale Cochoy as he is importing them to the US. Here is a link to a Yew I carved last year with his tools.
http://wildwoodbonsai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/new-carving-tools.html

Damn good job carving that yew Will! Carving big hallows like that though, I'm left wondering how that will impact the tree's long term survival?...I mean, will this rot faster now that a lot of the hardwood is now gone?

Hello Fore. There are many trees in the wild, big or small that have hollow trunks. They survive and often thrive with no attention paid to the decay going on inside. With fungicides and many of the woodhardeners and preservatives at our disposal, this shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks Will. I'd love to get one of those 4" bits, they look like a lot of fun

Fore wrote:

will baddeley wrote:No drill bits G but long shafted cutters made by Rudi Spanko in Slovakia. Contact Dale Cochoy as he is importing them to the US. Here is a link to a Yew I carved last year with his tools.
http://wildwoodbonsai.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/new-carving-tools.html

Damn good job carving that yew Will! Carving big hallows like that though, I'm left wondering how that will impact the tree's long term survival?...I mean, will this rot faster now that a lot of the hardwood is now gone?

The hard wood of a tree is already dead, so carve it would really effect the tree. The only thing I would worry about would be removing so much that you would end up effect the structural integrity of the tree, but that seems easy enough not to do.

English Yew have stood in church yards etc for hundred and in some cases a thousand years.... Hollow and otherwise. And they are still strong, structurally.
It's a very tuff wood, even dead!!