Satsuki and Other Trees in Mack's Garden 15

Renewal November 27th, 2012

Top page 　　　　　Profile　　　　　Study 　　　　Hobby


Small and Middle Young Trees


Since I already introduced "Small Single-trunked Satsuki Bonsai" and "Small and Middle Multi-trunked Satsuki Bonsai, I would like to show you how to grow small and middle young trees. I think it is very helpful when you begin to grow them which are much cheaper than bonsai. Besides you can make your saplings easily by yourselves.

Section 1. Small young trees which are single-trunked


Generally speaking it is difficult for you to grow very tall saplings which are more than 1 metre tall from cuttings if you don't have any green houses where you can keep the temperature above 15 degrees C in winter. It is because it is difficult for you to get them if you cannot grow them within two years. It depends on the nature of satsuki which is ready to crawl on the ground.

But it is easy for you to get small saplings. At first you had better put the cuttings of some varieties of satsuki which you like into fine Kanuma soil in a seedling tray. When they have good white roots, you may plant them in terracotta pots. After two or three years you have to repot them and wire their trunks. If they have good branches, wire them. After three years you repot them and wire their trunks and branches again to keep their styles.

A. Benigasa

The variety of Benigasa has only the very large red flowers, so that these flowers don't become this small tree. But a lot of women like these flowers very much. Therefore I sometimes grew several saplings to give them to our relatives and friends. But to my great regret my large Benigasa which was 37 years old died two years ago, so that I had to keep three of them. Though I had a plan to grow them as a middle size of bonsai before repotting them, I decided to grow one of them as a small bonsai because they didn't have a good style.

Height = 25 cm. The photo was taken on May 28th.

Repotting this tree last June after pruning of it, I put it into a larger terracotta pot to grow it a little bit larger. But being completed as a bonsai, it will have to have a small number of flowers because the flowers of this variety are very large. It is said that it is difficult to grow the trees which have very large and extremely large flowers as a proper bonsai, that is, they are the trees to look at their flowers. I am very envious of some of Japanese satsuki enthusiasts who have succeeded in both and can enjoy them.

Height = 28 cm.　The photo was taken on November 26th.

B. Ai-no-tsuki

Though the height of this tree was 38 cm, I cut the trunk before repotting last June because the style wasn't good. Besides it didn't have any purple flowers. Therefore I would like to graft a few branches which have purple flowers within several years and make it have the height of about 25 cm. I hope it will have a good style.

Height = 16 cm.　Circumference = 6 cm. The photo was taken on November 26th.

Section 2. Small young trees which are two-trunked


Growing small two-trunked bonsai, you have to wire the saplings lest they should make an obtuse crotch between two trunks. 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.

A. Eikan

Then let us look at the flowers of this tree. Though it has a beautiful flowers and the number of them is suitable to the whole style, it lacks red flowers. But since it has a flower of large red stripe, I am looking forward to seeing red flowers in the near future. The nature of red in satsuki is so strong that varieties of multi-coloured flowers have a possibility to have red flowers except some varieties if all flowers aren't pure white. Besides this variety doesn't have pure white flowers.

Judging from the style of the upper part of child trunk, I will have to change the part when I can find a good new shoot. And being very strong, this variety always has thicker and longer shoots. Therefore I mustn't give a lot of fertilisers to it. Generally speaking, as these flowers are large, it isn't suitable for a small bonsai.

Height = 30 cm. The photo was taken on June 11th.

B. Kogetsu

Kogetsu has a middle size of flowers. And this tree has all colours that the variety has to have. And I like the colour arrangement of these flowers very much. Even if a young tree of Kogetsu didn't have any red flowers, it will have them in the near future. But if it doesn't have any white flowers, it never will have them for ever. Besides since the nature of red in satsuki is very strong except some varieties, you have to remove the branches which have red flowers when your tree has a lot of red flowers. If you don't do so, it will have only red flowers in the near future.

If you find the considerable number of red new shoots (stems) in your tree after pruning, you had better remove half or two thirds of them because red new shoots mean fukurin (white jewel border). This kind of flowers has the same nature as red flowers. And since the new shoots of red flowers are green, we cannot distinguish between new shoots of red flowers and those of other ones. But these spring leaves turn red in autumn, so that you had better remove a half of them when you can find a lot of red leaves in your tree.

Judging from this nature of Kogetsu, you have to choose new shoots by the small-striped flowers when you would like to take the cuttings and grow them. You mustn't take them by red and white flowers and fukurin.

Therefore you have to buy the young tree of Kogetsu which has a lot of white flowers and some red ones. You mustn't buy it which has a lot of white flowers and a few small-striped ones, or red ones and fukurin, or only red or white ones. Therefore you had better buy it after confirming the flowers.

Height = 35 cm. The photo was taken on June 2nd.

When I repotted this tree last June, I had to consider the planting angle though it is better than before. The branches and shoots of Kogetsu are thinner than those of other varieties, so that they bow down when they have flowers. Besides the low part of parent trunk is straight and vertical. It kooks a little bit clumsy. Therefore I will wire it and put the parent trunk into a 77-degree angle when I repot it the next time.

Height = 38 cm. The photo was taken on November 26th.

C. Yama-no-hikari

These flowers are very beautiful. But the tree will have a lot of white flowers in the near future. The nature of this variety is very different from that of other varieties in the colours of flowers. About 30 years ago when I saw only red flowers in my young Yama-no-hikari, I put it on the floor to sell at our flower show, but couldn't sell it. To my surprise, it had a few white flowers after three years. Therefore you mustn't choose the young tree which has a lot of white flowers when you would like to buy it.

Judging from this nature of Yama-no-hikari, you have to choose new shoots by the large-striped flowers (o-shibori = major sector variegation) when you would like to take the cuttings and grow them. You mustn't take them by white flowers or small-striped ones. Though you may choose them by red flowers, I think it takes a long time for your young trees to have some white ones.

Height = 34 cm. The photo was taken on June 4th.

When I repotted this tree last June, I had to consider the planting angle because the low part of parent trunk is a little bit clumsy and straight. I think I will have to incline it a little bit to the left side when I repot it the next time.

Height = 38 cm. The photo was taken on November 26th.

Section 3. Middle young trees which are single-trunked


Passing over 70 years old, we cannot carry any heavy pots where large or very large satsuki trees are planted. Besides it is very difficult to repot them. Therefore it is natural that the old would like to keep small or middle bonsai. But recently I have grown only a small number of middle young trees from the cuttings though I have grown a lot of small young ones.

A. Asuka

This variety has large flowers. Therefore if some bonsai of Asuka aren't middle or tall, you mustn't make them have a lot offlowers. A lot of large flowers don't become small bonsai. In other words, you had better not make small bonsai which have large, or very large, or extremely large flowers. Especially it is impossible to grow them as small bonsai if they have multi-coloured flowers. Therefore a lot of Japanese satsuki enthusiasts like to grow them tall to enjoy all colours of the variety, and to consider the arrangement of them to make them look more beautiful.

Judging from the flower theory of satsuki trees, you can recognise that this tree has a lot of flowers though it looks very beautiful at first sight and it has all colours that Asuka has to have. But it is OK even if a lot of young trees which have multi-coloured flowers didn't have all colours that the varieties of them have to have. Therefore you had better make your young trees have as many flowers as you can till you can confirm whether they have all colours that their varieties have to have or not. If some of them have only white and pale-coloured flowers, you cannot hope that they will have all colours in future, so that you had better dispose of them because you won't be able to exhibit them on the shelves at your flower show when they are completed as bonsai.

Height = 41 cm. The photo was taken on June 3rd.

Since I could confirm that this tree has all colours of Asuka, I didn't have to choose the branches when I pruned it last June because I can be looking forward to all colours of Asuka in future. But it doesn't have a good style now because I hadn't had any plans to grow it as bonsai at first, that it, I am growing a lot of saplings and young trees for presents to our relatives and friends.

Repotting in June. Height = 44 cm. The photo was taken on November 26th.

B. Togenkyo

I haven't bought any saplings of very new varieties since about several years ago because they are very expensive, and I don't have a lot of time in my life to make them large-trunked bonsai. But I bought two tall saplings of Togenkyo about 10 years ago. Though I potted them into terracotta pots and wired them to make the middle part of trunks have some new shoots, they couldn't have any good shoots there, so that I cut the trunks shorter several years ago.

These flowers are very good. But the tree didn't have a lot of good flowers several years ago. Though I took a lot of new shoots by tsumabeni (crimson fingernail) and inserted them into fine Kanuma soil in a seedling tray 4 years ago, and am growing them to keep some trees and give the rest of them to our friends and relatives, these saplings didn't have a lot of good flowers last May because they are young. Therefore I would like to keep some trees which I hope will have a lot of good flowers within several years, and I will have to dispose of the rest, that is, if some of them have all red flowers at the age of eight, I think they never will have a lot of good flowers for ever. Choosing some new shoots by red flowers to get cuttings, you will have Kinsai instead of Togenkyo.

Height = 45 cm. Circumference = 10 cm. The photo was taken on June 4th.



If you would like to understand what Mack is a little more, please click here.

If you have any suggestions or impressions about my home page, please send your e-mail about them to my e-mail address. Then I will surely answer them.