Split trunk English Yew

Yew im working on, its been sitting in the unwanted section of a garden centre since the spring with no price tag, i was told to come back when the manager was there, on my last visit she was there and let me have it for £5.
Its pretty healthy, lots of woody branches, she borrowed me a set of loppers and i chopped it and gave it a quick prune, i could see something in it straightaway.



I gave it another light prune to shape and the front of the tree is already obvious and inviting.


Its actually a twin trunk, with a third chunk under soil level chopped off long ago.



After some thought, the tree is extremely well established, there are roots all over the surface and out the drainage holes, i removed some superfluous roots only to find the upper layer teaming with more roots.
Ive decided to style it like an ancient Yew that was split down the middle by a lightening strike or a heavy branch breaking away and the inside of the trunk becoming fragmented and rotting as a result, this is what happens to some of the oldest Yew trees in England.
I dont see it as a twin trunk anymore but as a trunk that was split.











The tree is currently being kept out of the rain on my balcony, Yews dont like to be wet in winter and the soil its in is very heavy.

BobbyLane wrote: (...) Yews dont like to be wet in winter and the soil its in is very heavy.

I didn't know that, that may explain why a beautiful one I had didn't make it through a particularly wet winter.

Nice project.

Sweet idea! I am curious to see the progression and I like the carving you did on it.

Cheers guys, I will update later in the season, along with my other projects ive posted....

A little update,

IMG_2660 by Bobby Lane, on Flickr

Wow, this has come a long way. Thanks for the effort of sharing its development.