I have always wanted a nice yew bonsai. I have known several people that say they just hate them and I can see why. For at least a couple years I have kept an eye out for a good one and resisted the impulse to buy anything small.
I don't normally post other peoples content but I am making an exception today. Here is a great demonstration by Merlin on a large Taxus that appears to have come from a garden landscape. I have no idea what he is saying but this is one of my favorite styling demos I have ever seen. I can't believe I didn't already know about this guy! Check out his site merlin-bonsai.de, particularly the before and after section. This is what inspires me.
The yew in this video ends looking very natural. It looks like a real tree that shrunk. I am going to do whatever it takes to find and create a large yew as close as I can get it to this level of naturalness.
On a side note, I planted all of my ficus in pure Perlite except for a layer of rocks and sand on the top to hold it all in (and it looks nicer than the bright white Perlite). So far they all seem to like it.
