Satsuki and Bonsai in Mack's Garden

My repotting of satsuki trees in 2011 --- Part two

I would like to show you the part two of "My repotting of satsuki trees in 2011."

Some of the rest of the trees which I showed on the previous homepage have some scars, hollows and rotten or dead parts. I think we cannot avoid these facts because satsuki is a kind of plant on this earth. And it is a fact that human beings may have serious diseases and die in their youth. But we have to take best care of satsuki if we would like to see the beautiful flowers. Especially as satsuki bonsai are planted in the narrow flowerpots, they have to outlive their severe environments. Therefore we always have to remember that they are living in the flowerpots, and to do our best to keep them healthy. It is very important for us to do so, but at the same time it is often difficult for us even to maintain their lives because we are busy and sometimes forgetful of our obligations to them.

When I was a beginner in growing satsuki trees, I was very proud of taking good care of them and told the members of Ise Satsuki Society that some of them were fools if they made their satsuki bonsai die. As satsuki and tea trees belong to the same family in the plants, I know the nature of tea trees from my childhood very well because my father produced green tea and often forced me to help him to take care of tea fields and produce green tea even in my childhood.

But 25 years ago my being very proud and busy began to make me have dead satsuki bonsai. I was asked to lend some big satsuki bonsai to my superiors and friends while they had their flowers. Though I asked them to give them a lot of water every morning and evening, perhaps they didn't obey my asking. Some of them put them in the air-conditioned rooms. Besides I didn't take special care of them after I had brought them home. Therefore almost trees except several ones died. At that time I thought I was lucky because these dead bonsai were the big trees which I had grown from the cuttings, and that this was my experience about satsuki bonsai. As the result small trees survived.

Moreover from about 20 years ago the satsuki trees which I bought as araki and made into good bonsai began to die, now I think, because I had put them on the shelves in the air-conditioned room for three days when we had held the Show, and didn't take special care about them after I had brought them home. And recently I made some of very expensive trees and a few tall trees which I had grown from the cuttings die. I think the causes of their death were 1. araki whose big trunks had been cut and made into the middle stye of bonsai, 2. cutting of some big branches, 3. a water shortage, 4. to give them a lot of fertilisers. These are primary causes of which we have to think at first. But I think the largest cause is because farmers had cultivated big satsuki trees in their nurseries so rapidly that in the flowerpots they couldn't have strength to outlive their severe environments which satsuki enthusiasts made.

Now I have only some tall trees which I have grown from the cuttings, and the rest of them are decreasing their number gradually because all of them are more than 37 years old, and continued to live in narrow flowerpots for about 30 years. Till several years ago I enjoyed their flowers every year by repotting them after blooming. At last I recognised they were very tired at that time. Since then I have removed all their flower buds when I prune, wash and repot them in April. It is because I repot the big bonsai and araki in March which I bought.

I would like to add an article about chemicals which I use now. As my younger brother has succeeded to our father's tea farm, I ask him what insecticides and germicides I should spread over the satsuki trees and all other trees in our garden because we cannot use some of these chemicals for several years. For example I use 12 insecticides and 7 germicides, and according to the list of rotation of these chemicals, mix 2 insecticides and 1 germicide once per 10 days. Generally speaking satsuki enthusiasts may spread the chemicals over satsuki trees once per 12 days in Ise where I live. But as we have 87 rose trees in our garden, we are requested to spread some mixed chemicals over them once a week. But as I cannot do so, I always spread them over satsuki and rose trees at the same time. This is my plan, but rain and wind often make me change it.

These photos were taken on May 10th. Repotted trees have young leaves now, but don't have any new shoots from their trunks and thick branches.

Shuho no hikari. Height = 46 cm, circumference = 29. It was dug out from the nursery and repotted on March 24th.

Kozan. Height = 53 cm, circumference = 34 cm. It was dug out from the nursery and repotted on March 24th.

Shinnyo no tsuki. Height = 88 cm, circumference = 17 cm. It has been gwown from the cutting and was repotted on April 4th. I had to remove all of flower buds, leaving small number of leaves because I thought it was a little bit weak though it looked strong.

Kusudama. Height = 59 cm, width = 86 cm. I put it into a tree of five trunks when I bought a tree at the Sow about 30 years ago. Though it had more trunks, I chose five good branches, removed the rest of them, and wired them. When I repotte it on April 4th, I removed all of flower buds though it was strong, for the flowerpot is a little bit little and shallow against it. According to Japanese bonsai history, it is much better for us to choose 3, 5, 7, 9 trunks when we make a mutitrunk bonsai: we love odd numbers in the bonsai world.

Osakazuki (netsuranari). Height = 48 cm, width = 68 cm. It wad dug out from the bank of my grandfather's tea field 39 years ago. As it has a big rotten part on the bottom, I think it is a little bit weak. Therefore I had to remove all of the flower buds, leaving a small number of leaves when I pruned it. Washing the roots, I repotted it on April 3rd.

Namichidori. Height = 92 cm, circumference = 19 cm. It has been gwown from the cutting and was repotted on April 8th. I had to remove only all of flower buds, leaving all leaves carefully because it was very weak and didn't have a lot of leaves. Washing the roots, I recognised the rotten parts on the bottom and the rotten roots. When I removed them with tools, I could see them changed into a long hollow in the trunk. After cleaning them with an air compressor, I stuffed the hollow with a kind of bond.

Daigokuden. Height = 94 cm, Circumference = 24 cm. It has been gwown from the cutting and was repotted on April 8th. I had to remove all of flower buds, leaving a lot of leaves because it was very weak and the right second branch died.

　Komei. Height = 55 cm, width = 42 cm. It has been gwown from the cutting and was repotted on April 7th. It was weak because it had a big rotten part on the lower trunk. After removing it, it stood as if it were two-legged. I stuffed the hollow in the cleft trunk with a kind of bond about 25 years ago.