Yew removal and what’s to be

Mon. May. 4, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Yew removal and what’s to be

 I had a yew that had taken over a corner of my house. An arborist friend of mine said, it’s beautiful, don’t get rid of it. One gardener’s dream is another’s nightmare.

Yew monster AFTER a trim

 I didn’t want that heavy looking thing there anymore! So… with a truck, a winch, a log chain, a teenager! We got ‘er done.

attempted to do this with those blocks to keep the chain up – that didn’t work! The teenager is driving. It DID loosen it

A 10k winch loosened it but ended with pulling it by the truck!

and it’s out

The next question, that I’d been pondering for a while, was what to plant in that location. I knew I wanted a taller ornamental tree that I could underplant and that offered seasonal interest. Not a small order! Originally, I planned on a smokebush but there just isn’t enough sun in the location.

That’s me!

I decided to go with a crabapple and headed to my local nursery. I love buying LOCAL! Knecht’s has great trees. In the videos I kept saying “Fireside”…. it’s a ‘FIREBIRD’ crabapple!  oops….

And Jeff helped!

It’s important to properly remove and root prune your purchase. These are investments, so take your time. Also dig a proper hole! FYI – I’m still figuring out how to take videos with my phone! 

Planting at soil level allows for those upper roots to get the moisture and nutrients they need. I used an organic fish fertilizer from DRAMM that’s fortified with kelp, it’s from their Drammatic line! It’s the same formulation that’s used by professional growers!  

For some reason the video isn’t coming up as the one below… here’s the link: https://youtu.be/ustM57tU19I

I also used the DRAMM soaker hose but moved it over to my temporary butterfly garden…

And…… the ‘Firebird’ crabapple tree

Crabapple ‘Firebird’ tree

And now to fill in with some other plants!!!!