As long as you water it as often as necessary, there is no reason at all it can't be planted now. Of course there are "preferred" times of year for planting, depending on location......but that doesn't mean you can't plant outside of those narrow windows, provided you are supplying the plant with the conditions it need to become established.

If one were restricted to planting only at specific times, most nurseries and landscapers would be out of business!!

In my world, planting can - and does - take place any time the ground is workable. Which is pretty much 11 months out of 12 :-)

you are so far north ... i bet you could get away with it ...

its not like its going to be 100 degrees in a couple weeks .... is it???

i dont think this is equivalent to that other post.. with the new graft drooping ... if that is the root of your concerns ...

in my experience.. here in MI ... now was about the end of doing such ... after 5/25 ... i might just sink the whole pot... and plant it properly in fall .. presuming your soil drains ... but you being more north.. i am sure you have at least an extra week or 2...

if you note any drooping .... shade it for a couple weeks.. its as easy as setting a lawn chair over it.. in mid day sun ... but many other options ...

cold nights are a plus.... a long dark recovery period before the sun hits it again ...

i might not bare root it this late ...

ken

Yeah, we're around two weeks later than more southern and easterly climates (z4-5). The greenhouse orders these in, so they're probably from a warmer location but have been enjoying our cool nights (low 40's) here for a couple of weeks, I think that's slowed them down.

I'll plant it even if I have to do root surgery, they're talking one day over 70d for the next 10 days and a cooler & wetter than average summer. I can water anytime and it will be a partial sun, more protected location.

Seeing the tag showing the source of those and the stage they are at they likely came from the growing range near Saint Paul. So not that much warmer.

Being a bit marginal for your area I wouldn’t fall plant.

Good point!

Hopefully, taunton is so low growing, it will get covered with snow most years.

I have a corner of the house where I put a section of fence, at an angle to the house, to fill a 'hole' between the lilacs and corner of the house.

Planted a Japanese tree lilac about 6-8 from the house and 3+ ft. from the fence. You're looking NE toward the fence.

I'm getting a little tired of mowing up to the fence and on each side of the Tree lilac.

So what I might do is put Yew on one side of the Tree lilac, Eventually more yew in back and both sides of tree lilac.

The Yew will get shade from the fence and either the lilac hedge until ~11:00 AM or the tree lilac, possibly until Noon or so. More shade as the tree lilac grows. Afternoon shade from the house comes in that area after 5:00 pm or so.

i plan to raise the crown of the tree lilac eventually so it is above the fence, that way it gets full sun from early morning until 5:00 pm. I hear that's good for this kind of tree so it blooms well.

I also have two Peonies plants to put out in front of the Tree lilac and mulch the entire area so no grass to deal with. Pardon my art skills. I may have to remove some of the day lilies but the yew might eventually push them out, so nbd.

'Taunton' has done well for me, I attribute that to being planted where it always gets deeply covered in snow. Another good one with known superior hardiness is 'Morden Yew'.

Plant it! I'm a big proponent of putting just about everything in the ground as soon as you can. The exception: plants of borderline viability for the climate. Hmm... actually, on second thought, I suppose that's most of what I have. Well, exceptions are made to be broken. But, getting back to your yew, just give it the extra care that it's going to need as a newly planted conifer during the summer.

Done!

#2 'Standard' pot (1.7 gal. ?)

There were only small, fine roots hitting the outside of the pot and nothing coming out the bottom, so I just set it the correct height and back filled.

Taunton is supposed to be so good at not winter burning but I see they also recommend planting in a protected area, hmm.

This is as good a spot as I have here.

I'll have another peonie (wifes favorite) but will wait until fall before I move it.

Thanks for all the advice! :^)

The Lilac corner -- nice!

Thanks!

It makes a nice focal point instead of neighbor kids riding bikes through my yard as a 'shortcut'. :-/

Nothing wilted or showing any kind of 'transplant shock'. 80's and sun the last few days. TS predicted later today. :-)

Temps been hitting 80's regularly but sufficient rains been arriving in timely fashion. Also watering in between rains. Nice deep green appearance. Maybe more yews in my future. :-)

If they thrive, it looks like they will get much too large for the spot.

I can only hope. Survival will be it's first goal and we do have a climate that tends to slow plants down a bit. And keeping the gardener from taking cuttings will be a challenge I'm sure. ;-)

Visited a BBS over a week ago and saw some clearance items. Picked up a 'Hicksii' yew. I know I'm zone pushing but I got it for a good price and this is probably the most protected spot I have in my yard, so if it lasts a few years, so be it.

I don't under stand how two forms of Taxus x media can have different zone requirements? The Tantaun is rated -30f and the Hicks -20f? They are a cross of the same two plants correct?

Regardless, I had to cut one large knot out of the roots growing in an undersized pot.

Plus the store smothered the top of the pot with blue beads, I think fert, so I dumped those off. It was fairly dry media so I washed the root ball thoroughly and watered frequently. It's a bad time of year to be fertilizing woody plants.

The Tantaun has filled out nicely for just a month in and the Hicks looks good in that location. :^)

The tops know it's zone 3 but the roots think they're in zone 5....maybe, after our third snowfall this season. We'll have to see how they do come spring. :-)

Rabbits have checked them out but no sign of eating on them. I read somewhere rabbits don't eat yews (?).

I don’t know about rabbits because I don’t have them. But deer love yews in my area (think stark brown twigs year round), so if deer visit your yard, I would protect them with fencing or sprays or zigzagged clear fishing line.

Thanks for the follow ups. I love to see progress like this.

Good point!

Thanks!

We only occasionally see sign that deer have been in the yard but once they find something they like, they'll return until it's either gone or protected.

I'm hoping to take a few cuttings off these next month, so I plunked a couple of my 'cages' over them for now. Not that they couldn't still reach over but it's less likely because deer are a bit skiddish until they get acquainted with something new to them. I'm not 100% sure about the rabbits either :-)

Good snow cover with another 6" last night. Unless damage was done previously during a couple of sub zero nights we've had. The Hicksii looks good but the Tantaun looked a little off green.

The glacier recedes!

Just in time for there NOT to be anymore -20'sF.

Not that it couldn't happen, it just gets more rare this time of year.

The Hicksii is still covered but with 40's F forecast for the weekend, that will change. :-)

'Taunton' is planted at the end of a walkway and is currently covered by 3 1/2 feet of snow, The 'Hicksii' is only a small specimen, had sustanied some damage in last February's horrific drawn out cold. The 'Morden Yew', supposedly the hardiest of all named selections, sit's in one of the back beds and has thrived without setback.

Thanks! I might have to look into the 'Morden' (had to look it up) if these two struggle.

I'm surprised I haven't seen any offered around here. Our local nursery guy told me he carried the Taunton because it's been a proven winter hardy plant for him around here.

I noticed the Hicksii emerging from the snow pile today with the Taunton completely out of the snow and looks as good as it did last fall.

Right now the cuttings from these two are about the only thing green left in my rooting chamber. :-)

Update Report:

Both Yews did pretty good this season with apparently no winter damage.

But....This fall, when the first hard frost came in late September, some of the branch tips on the Hicksii still looked lighter green, like they weren't quite hardened off like they should be.

After a few frosts in the 20'sF. by middle of Oct. those light green branch tips look a little yellow orange. So maybe Hicksii doesn't have a long enough season here to flourish, idk.

I put a sun shield around the Hicksii before the snow hit, in an attempt to minimize sun scald and wind damage (lower right). The Taunton looks perfectly normal (the rabbits ignored the branches sticking through the wire cage last winter).

4-23-21

The Hicksii's gone!

It just wasn't thriving. So It got moved to the other end of the yard where it can live in the shade of the Red pines. If that doesn't work, I can always prune it with the lawnmower. lol

The Taunton has minor needle burning but nothing to recover from and should continue to grow well, even though not much snow cover stays in that area. The drip line off the house roof falls directly to the left side of the T. taunton so any little shower keeps it happy. :-)

9-3-22

The Taunton yew is still healthy. When I first planted it, I was picking/squishing scale off the backsides of the leaves for a couple of years. This year, they seem to have vanished. The plant grows more outward than upward (as advertised) and doesn't like dry.

Not sure what to say about the Hicksii. Its dark green and pushed good growth early season. Then slowed and pushed new second growth on several stems but for some reason, grew more on some stems than on others. I don't know if this is normal? :-) Gets regular irrigation and is about 17" tall.

I've got a few yews around here that grow pretty much the same way...

Ah, thanks Al. It made me wonder.

Not anything out of the ordinary then.

Nice looking plants you have there, as usual. :-)

7-2-23

After nearly 5 years, I think I'm finished working on this bed.

I settled for an ostrich fern to replace the peony, that died a couple years ago, on the right.

The lilac hedge and lilac tree supply several hours of shade, especially in the back parts by the fence. Only 3-4 hours of direct sun, and that's on the frontal areas mostly, with full shade returning maybe 5:00pm or so.

The Red Charm has 11 flower buds this year and the Taunton yew is larger than it looks in the picture for some reason. This is more in the sun but helps shade the back.

Fragilis fern and Taxus canadensis apparently like it in the back (this is the first area that you could call mostly shade on this property). I sun shaded the T. c. last winter and still had a few of the older needles die but it's growing good. Yay! ;-)

I'm finally getting some 'right places' for the right plants.

Just thought I'd share. :-)

8-5-2023: update on the Yews performance.

A little early but this long dry season has things hardening off already.

I let the Ferns go. If they come back next season fine, nbd.

The Hicksii yew did well this season. There was a couple of 2" tip diebacks, of what was sticking out above the snow. Otherwise, great condition and grew well. 32" tall now. I might put a sunshade on this one for next winter but, it's in a spot that might get enough shade next year.

The Taunton yew likes its location. It resides pretty close to the drip line of the house roof. So, any little sprinkle/roof run off, perks it up during the summer. About 2 ft. tall back by the fence.

The snow doesn't stay on this spot in the spring, but no winter burn once established. Very limited direct sun here, except early spring before the Tree Lilac Leafs out.

Just for kicks, the Red Charm peonies had eleven blooms this time around in June. ;-)

:-)