As I wrote about "Small Single-trunked Satsuki Bonsai" in the previous homepage, I would like to introduce "Small and Middle Multi-trunked Satsuki Bonsai." It is easy to make two-trunked or three trunked satsuki bonsai if the good materials can be got because you can make them without a lot of restrictions.
Section 1. The number of trunks in multi-trunked satsuki bonsai
At first you have to remember the number of trunks when you would like to make multi-trunked satsuki bonsai. If you can make the bonsai which has trunks of odd numbers, it is OK in a respect of number. However beautiful your four-trunked satsuki bonsai may be at the show, you cannot get the first prize. Especially a lot of Japanese people don't like 4 whose one sound means death, that is, it is an unlucky number. To the contrary, 3, 5, and 7 are lucky numbers in Japan. The same in England.If the number of trunks of a multi-trunked tree is above 11, I think you don't have to care much about it. The number above 11 means a dozen or dozens in our impression. Therefore even if a satsuki bonsai has 16 trunks, it is OK because it is natural. You don't have to make a new trunk. But this may be a theory in our head though it is OK if you would like to make a range of roots (netsuranari) which has a lot of trunks. Generally speaking, we don't call a range of roots a multi-trunked tree.
Judging from my experience, it is impossible to make an old multi-trunked tree of a very good style whose number of trunks is above 11. Perhaps it will have a large clump of roots (bankon) when it is 20 years old. After then when you repot it, you mustn't remove the soil under the clump of roots completely lest the central trunk should die. Even if it continues to live, it won't be thicker than any other trunks because it has only under roots. In fact it is a very dangerous condition. Even if a very large-trunked tree has a very large clump of roots, it is in a very dangerous condition, too, because the soil under the trunk don't get any water. Some time you may have to dip it into the water in a large basin.
A. Two-trunked satsuki bonsai
The variety of this satsuki tree is unknown because it is one of seedlings which I dug under the trees in my nursery about 17 years ago. If I can determine the parents, I will be able to ask The Japan Satsuki Society to allow me to name it. How beautiful these flowers are!
B. Three-trunked satsuki bonsai
Goko and two trees of Nikko have been grown from the saplings which I separated from the branches of the trees in the nursery. At first they were grown to sell at the flower show. But as they had beautiful flowers, I restyled them into small three-trunked bonsai.Especially this Goko had some white flowers among red and pale rose flowers. But it already had a little bit bad bottom of trunks when I restyled it into a three-trunked bonsai: the angle between the central trunk and the right trunk isn't sharp though it isn't obtuse. We call an obtuse crotch between two trunks the frog's crotch if a tree is two-trunked or three-trunked satsuki bonsai. And we don't like it.
The style of this Nikko is much better than that of Goko above. If a satsuki bonsai is a three-trunked tree, each trunk has to have each height that is different from others. The central trunk is tall, and the left trunk is short. I like this style. Though the lower part of left trunk is a little bit clumsy, I think the whole style is good. But these flowers which you can see don't look beautiful. It depends on my old camera. I wouldn't keep it for a long time if it didn't have good flowers.
I like this Nikko because not only the colour arrangement of these flowers but also the style of the tree is very good. Besides some pale rose flowers have red stripes. I am very sorry that you cannot see the real colours of these flowers. Therefore I bought a new camera on July 23rd to take a lot of better photos. I think it is much better that the main trunk will be thicker than other two trunks.
C. Five-trunked satsuki bonsai
In the case of five-trunked Satsuki bonsai, you don't have to care much about the angles between trunks. One or two of five trunks might be new shoots which came from the soil. And a trunk which had five branches might be put in the soil to make a range of roots (netsuranari). The bottom form of five-trunked satsuki bonsai in either case is basically different from that of two-trunked or three-trunked satsuki bonsai. But each trunk has to be seen separately from the front.Though the style of this Shuho-no-hikari isn't very good, it looks pretty. And each trunk has each movement. The main trunk seems to have 4 children trunks. Perhaps these four trunks were four of several shoots which had come from the soil round the central trunk. Now that it is 17 years old, each bottom of five trunks has formed a little mass of roots. I am sorry to tell you that the space between the main trunks and the right back trunk is a little bit wide.
This Goko has a lot of very good flowers. I think the colour arrangement of flowers is perfect. Besides their deep red, pure white and pale rose are very beautiful. But the tree has a fatal defect which you can see on the mnain trunk. And it is thinner than other 4 trunks. About 14 years ago only the main trunk had an accident: the bark was peeled lengthwise by extreme coldness in winter and I couldn't find it soon. When I recognised it, I painted the medicine on the wound and bound the trunk with soft plastic tape. But though it continues to live, the long scar hasn't cured yet.
D. Seven-trunked satsuki bonsai
These flowers of Nikko are not very beautiful. But it depends on my old camera that the colours of red and pale rose withered. The style of tree and the movement of each trunk are good. If the main trunk is a little bit taller and thicker than others, what impression do you have?
This satsuki tree doesn't have a formal variety because it is one of seedlings which I dug out under Matsukagami in my nursery about 17 years ago. I think that its mother is Matsukagami, but its father is unknown. And these flowers are very different from those of Matsukagami. They are larger and we cannot see a lot of various-striped flowers which Matsukagami has formally. These flowers which I haven't seen in my life show the interesting existence among all satsuki flowers in our garden. But I am very sorry that the number of these trunks is 6 now because the seventh trunk died several years ago. Since then any good shoots haven't come from the bottom of this tree.
Now I have some plans. I will take some cuttings from it next June to grow some grafts. And if I graft one of them on the right front of the tree, the number of trunks will be OK. But however short the trunk may be, it will hide the lower parts of hind trunks. It may be awkward because the present movement and arrangement of 6 trunks looks beautiful. Or I will graft it on the bottom under the right trunk. It may be an good idea. But if it has some flowers in 5 years, the whole style will be a little clumsy. Another plan is to graft it on the right side of lower part of the main trunk. It may be OK, but the whole style won't be lovely. The fifth idea is to remove one of 5 trunks except the main trunk. For example, if I remove the left trunk and restyle other five trunks when I repot it next time, it will be OK. The final plan is to keep what it is. If I enjoy it on the shelf in my garden, of course it is OK. Which plan can you accept if the tree is yours?
E. Nine-trunked satsuki bonsai
I don't know the variety of this tree. Only some of these large flowers have little stripes and blotches. Others are pure white. It looks pretty because the arrangement and movement of 9 trunks is neat. But I think each trunk had better have their own heights which are different from others, especially the main trunk (the third from the left) had better be much taller because you cannot distinguish which the main trunk is from the photo. And it is one of my plans to remove two trunks because the size of the flower is classified in a large class. Flower size of small trees had better be small or middle.When I was President of Ise Satsuki Enthusiast Meeting, I guided the members to three satsuki shops in Nagoya by bus to see satsuki bonsai and attend the monthly auction about 15 years ago. I was under an obligation to buy a few trees because I had asked the shop owner to allow our members to partake in the monthly auction. When I bought it, I asked the owner to tell me the variety, but he couldn't answer my question. Therefore it was very cheap.
F. Eleven-trunked satsuki bonsai
These flowers are very good. But how many trunks does this tree have? Judging from the photo, it isn't an eleven-trunked satsuki bonsai. When I repotted it three years ago, I didn't pay much attention to decision of the front and restyle it with wiring. I think it is a good idea to remove two trunks.
I changed the pot into a deeper one when I repotted it on June 29th because it had a little bit lack of water sometimes. At first I changed the angle of front. And I wired 8 trunks so that 11 trunks might be seen separately. But I couldn't succeed in it. Though you can count 11 trunks in the photo, the arrangement of these trunks isn't much better than before.
When it was a young tree, I could see 11 trunks separately because they were very thin. But now it is very difficult to restyle them with thick wire (6 mm) because they are thick. Even if I try and try to make it have much better style, I won't be able to expect that it will have a good arrangement of 11 trunks because I never change the bottoms of each trunk. Therefore I can accept the basic style without rejection. If I would like to remove two trunks, I can do so at any time. The decision to restyle a tree always depends on the owner's sensibility and skill.
Section 2. How to make some saplings
I introduce three kinds of ways to make some sapling for multi-trunked satsuki bonsai. I would like to recommend you to make less than seven-trunked satsuki bonsai. If you would like to make a range of roots (netsuranari) which has a lot of trunks, of course it is OK. Judging from my experience it is a fact that it is very difficult to make a multi-trunked satsuki bonsai which has more than 11 trunks.A. Cuttings
It is very easy to get a lot of cuttings and insert them into the small Kanuma soil. After they had some roots, you have to plant them in small pots or seedling trays and to keep them till they have some shoots which came from the bottoms of trees or from the soil. When you find good shoots to make children trunks, you can decide the number of trunks.B. Saplings in the pots or gardens
You may find good saplings in the pots or gardens because long shoots of satsuki trees can grow the roots easily if they touch the soil. And you can get a needful sapling if you wire a long shoot, put it on the soil and put the sphagnum on it. Besides they are very good saplings to make multi-trunked trees because they have a lot of roots only on the one side and you don't have to remove a lot of roots on the other side.I had separated the saplings from the old shoots in my nursery about 17 years ago. They had a lot of roots because they had touched the Kanuma soil under the mother tree. I got a lot of these good materials to make multi-trunked trees till 2001. Whenever I repotted them, I wired them to sell at the flower show. This is the way the basic styles of multi-trunked trees were made. And my multi-trunked trees except above nine-trunked tree whose variety I don't know are some of those which I hadn't sold at our flower show because they had good flowers and styles.
C. Some unnecessary branches
When you have small unnecessary branches which you would like to remove from the main branches and the trunks, you can put them into the soil. If they are thick, you have to dip them in the medicine to promote roots, spread the sphagnum on the bottom of the pot, put the soil there, put them on it, put it on them and spread the sphagnum over it.D. Some unnecessary young trees
When you have an unnecessary young tree which you gave up making into a good bonsai, you can lay it on the soil in the pot or the ground after all branches on the one side are removed, put the soil on it and spread the sphagnum over it. And you can use them as the cuttings. However, you mustn't draw the tree from the pot because you have to water it. If it is an old tree, it is very difficult to make it grow roots. When the tree has a lot of good roots, you can cut the trunk. If you get a long material, you can make a range of roots (neturanari).
Section 3. How to make small multi-trunked satsuki bonsai
Even though multi-trunked satsuki bonsai is small, or middle, or large, it has to have a total beauty. Therefore the main trunk had better be tallest and thickest than other trunks. In the case of a seven-trunked tree it is very easy to make it tallest in 20 years, but very difficult to make it thickest because it cannot have more roots than others. Especially if the main trunk is placed on the centre of large clump of roots (bankon), it has only under roots. In fact it is already in a very dangerous condition. When you repot an old seven-trunked tree, you mustn't remove the soil under the large clump of roots completely lest the central trunk should die.A. Wiring
When you get a short sapling or young trees which has several shoots, you have to make a plan to make a multi-trunked tree. According to it, you can wire the main trunk (shoot) and even numbers of trunks (shoots) after pruning. After you remove the wires in a half year, you have to change the tops every year lest they should grow taller. And you had better remove all the unnecessary shoots because you don't have to make them grow thicker year by year.When you repot it, you have to wire the branches after removing of all shoots of the lower parts of trunks. And you can complete the basic style of the tree when each trunk has each heights which are different from other trunks.
Next you have to keep the pretty style of the multi-trunked satsuki bonsai. You had better change the thick branches for the thinner ones, wire them and prune them drastically lest the upper parts of trunks should grow thicker than the lower parts. Besides you have to remove some branches to keep the whole style and the colour arrangements of flowers pretty.
Without these activities, it is very difficult to make a good arrangement of 9 or 11 trunks with only wiring. Besides it is very difficult to use 6 mm aluminium wire when each trunks are tick and short, and the spaces between trunks are very narrow. Therefore the basic style has to be made when the trunks are young and flexible and to be fixed by wiring.
And in the near future it will have a large clump of roots (bankon). After then when you repot it, you mustn't remove the soil under the clump of roots completely lest the central trunk should die. Even if it continues to live for a log time, it won't be thicker than any other trunks because it has only under roots.
Each trunk has to have each height which is different from other trunks. And it is difficult to remove some branches to keep the whole style beautiful. Besides the central trunk may look thinner than other trunks in 15 years. However careful you may be when you repot it, there will be danger of the trunk dying in 25 years.
B. Cutting of the trunks with scissors
It is said that a satsuki bonsai will have the natural figure if you complete it, using only scissors without wires. Though I could try doing so to make single-trunked, two-trunked and three-trunked satsuki bonsai, I haven't done so to make more than five-trunked trees yet. It is very difficult to do so because all trunks don't always have good conditions to make good bonsai, using only scissors. Therefore it is much easier to make more than five-trunked satsuki bonsai by wiring than by using only scissors.In my previous homepage I introduced you that it is a good method to make single-trunked satsuki bonsai by cutting the trunks with scissors. And I think I succeeded in it, but haven't made any good two-trunked and three-trunked bonsai in the same way yet.