Yew Growth Rate

[dmassphoto]

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how long it took for an English or Italian Yew tree to grow to get to the point where medieval tradesmen judge it good enough to cut down?  I know they were supposed to grow straight and slow in high altitudes, but nothing I've seen specifies how old they were or how high they grew. 

-D

[Davepim]

There may be a certain amount of leeway but I know that for high altitude Yew, trees about 80 years old are ideal for harvesting - trunk is about 6-8" in diameter at this stage.

Dave

[dmassphoto]

Ahh, ok.  Not as much as I thought, then.  For some reason, I was thinking around 400yrs!   

[Marc St Louis]

There may be a certain amount of leeway but I know that for high altitude Yew, trees about 80 years old are ideal for harvesting - trunk is about 6-8" in diameter at this stage.

Dave

Doesn't sound quite right to me.  That would mean 30 rings/inch at best

[Keenan]

 Around this part of the country an eight inch high elevation tree (above 4500') would be around 300-400 years old. Even a small 3-4 inch tree at high elev. is quite old.

[dmassphoto]

Around this part of the country an eight inch high elevation tree (above 4500') would be around 300-400 years old. Even a small 3-4 inch tree at high elev. is quite old.

Pretty interesting the Yews that are being cut today were just being planted during the time that the Warbow died out due to its unavailability.

[Davepim]

There may be a certain amount of leeway but I know that for high altitude Yew, trees about 80 years old are ideal for harvesting - trunk is about 6-8" in diameter at this stage.

Dave

Doesn't sound quite right to me.  That would mean 30 rings/inch at best

Yep! a lot of the Yew he sells is about that ring count. Some is higher, but not all, and there is variability. Some trunks are likely to be be older than 80, but this is what Celestino Poletti considers an ideal minimal age and a lot of he very best Yew is in any case no longer available. I haven't personally counted the rings on every stave that he harvests, but I have never seen a trunk wider than about 10 inches diameter and I have actually seen these staves in person since I actually do live here in Italy! No offence but, it's easy to comment on what you haven't seen in person. Also, these staves come from trees grown at around 800 m altitude and Yew grown at higher altitudes - 1000m or so, will have a much higher ring count, but Poletti tells me that the wood isn't as good.

Dave

[Phil Rees]

Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how long it took for an English or Italian Yew tree to grow to get to the point where medieval tradesmen judge it good enough to cut down?  I know they were supposed to grow straight and slow in high altitudes, but nothing I've seen specifies how old they were or how high they grew. 

-D

There's a myriad of factors that determine the size, density characteristics and indeed the shape of any species of tree. The availability of nutrients, water and the length of the growing season are the primary factors that influence growth. The latitude of the geographical growing area is another factor as it has an influence on photosynthesis. Strangely enough, geographical locations of completely different climatic regions often display similar environmental growing conditions due to the similarity in availability or lack of availability of nutrients and water. For example trees growing at altitude in the central European alpine regions may display similar characteristics as the same species growing in the semi arid regions of North Africa.

[Davepim]

You are absolutely correct there Horace Ford. I am sure that a lot of people out there are under the impression that high altitude Yew, by definition, must have a very high ring count - some undoubtedly has had - but as a rule the staves that have been made available to me don't. There is not an indefinite supply of this timber, it is protected by law, and most of the very best from this location has gone. The one thing that this Yew has in comparison with Yew grown at lower altitudes is a higher density. This may of course make the bow a little slower in comparison with those made from lowland timber, even when they have equivalent ring spacing.

Dave

[Oberon]

 This interests me as well. I Have several yews on my property ranging from 10" or so up to over 20" in diameter. Was planning on harvesting some of them this year for staves.  I live in the  hills and small mountains of the Umpqua valley area of Oregon at about 1200 to 1300 foot elevation .

[Badger]

    Last year I saw a yew stave on e ebay for about 200.00 a near perfect stave but with a very low ring count of maybe 8 rings per inch. I promptly wrote the seller and advised hime that his stave was not suitable as a premium stave because of the low ring count. He promptly wrote me back advising me that I didn't know what I was talking about. I decided he might be right because I was spouting just what I had heard. I kept my eyes open for a low elevation stave and got one with about a 10 ring count. Still made a fine bow. Little bigger demensions than the denser stuff but still great wood. Steve

[Marc St Louis]

Steve
The only problem with that is when trying to make a really heavy warbow.  Low density wood just doesn't hold up under the heavy draw weight and takes a lot of set.  Also the bow becomes huge

[Rod]

Anyone have SG/ring count figures on these various yew samples?

Rod.

[Badger]

   Mark, that is pretty much what I concluded, it is fine for lightweight bows but would not make a warbow. Steve

[adb]

    Last year I saw a yew stave on e ebay for about 200.00 a near perfect stave but with a very low ring count of maybe 8 rings per inch. I promptly wrote the seller and advised hime that his stave was not suitable as a premium stave because of the low ring count. He promptly wrote me back advising me that I didn't know what I was talking about. I decided he might be right because I was spouting just what I had heard. I kept my eyes open for a low elevation stave and got one with about a 10 ring count. Still made a fine bow. Little bigger demensions than the denser stuff but still great wood. Steve

I think I know who you're talking about, Steve, and I've had similar conversations and reponses.