Though I have introduced how to repot the satsuki trees after having pruned them in March when the soil in the pots was hard, this time I would like to introduce how to repot the completed satsuki bonsai in March which I will get to have the flowers in May. Of course the numbers of flowers are less than those in the previous year. But they must be very strong and have good roots after they were washed completely with jets of water.
Section 1. Chikuho
I bought this tree when I went to Kanuma to see the satsuki flower show in June 1999. The price was 25,000 yen. The height was 58 cm, and the trunk girth was 14cm. Since then, I repotted it four times. Judging from the surface of the soil, I decided to repot it on March 17th, 2015.
You can see a lot of moss on the surface of the soil. And I judged that the soil was a little bit hard. But if this tree had a good nebari when I finished removing the soil and washing the roots with jets water, I liked to make it have the flowers in May. Therefore I did not trim it before repotting it.
At first I cut the root ball into halves with a saw-edged sickle and removed the soil along the thick roots, using a bamboo stick. Though the soil was blacker than I had thought, the soil was not so hard that it was easy to remove the soil. And it was easy to remove the soil at the bottom of the root. These meant that the condition of roots was good.
Though I washed the roots with jets of water drastically, this tree still had a lot of fine roots. Therefore I judged that I would be able to make it have the flowers in May.
And I planted it in the same bonsai pot. Judging from the tree form, the movement of these branches is not so good that I will have to restyle it in the near future.
The height is 58 cm and the trunk girth is 19 cm. Though I have grown this tree for 16 years, the trunk girth is only 5 cm thicker than that when I had bought it. And since Chikuho is thought to be a variety of hybrid between a satsuki and Miyamakirishima (a Japanese azalea), the leaves are small, and the flowers are very small. And besides, the shoots and roots are very fragile. Judging from these conditions, I decided to remove a half of flower buds though this tree had a lot of fine roots lest the flowering in May should make it weak.
After removing a half of flower buds, I spread the sphagnum on the soil in the pot.
Though this tree has some defects, it looks like a bonsai.
When I fastened this tree with a wire, I bound it on the back nebari lest you should see it from the front side. And I put two small pieces of water hose on the thick roots lest the wire should hurt them when this tree will grow.
I was much surprised to know that I had repotted this tree on March 26th, 2013 when I was about to write the day of repotting of it on the list of repotting in the personal computer. It has passed only two years since the previous repotting. And the surface soil was black or dark. Why? When I repotted it on March 26th, 2013, did I wash the roots with jets of water? But if I had not done so, these roots would not have been washed cleanly this time.
I am very sorry to tell you that I could not take any photos of satsuki flowers last May and June. This photo was taken on May 21st, 2011. As it had passed two years since I had repotted it on April 9th, 2009, it had a lot of good flowers.
Section 2. Korin
I bought this tree when I went to Kanuma to see the satsuki bonsai show in November 1994. The price was 160,000 yen. And I planted it in a large shallow terracotta pot. The height was 29 cm and the trunk girth was 23 cm. And I planted it in the same pot after removing the soil and washing the roots on March 19th, 2001. The height was 28cm and the trunk girth was 32 cm. And I repotted it in the bonsai pot on April 30th, 2007. The height was 32 cm and the trunk girth was 39cm.
This tree is so strong that I decided to make it have flowers in May when I repotted it on March 17th, 2015. And since it has a good top now, the whole shape is very good after I cut the long shoots. But the lower branches did not have a lot of flower buds. It is because I had to cut them short though they had the flower buds.
Though it has passed 3 years since the previous repotting, the front and back sides of root ball are still yellowish. But the surface of the soil is hard. These conditions mean that this tree is very strong.
And I cut the root ball into halves with a saw-edged sickle. When I removed the soil from the bottom of the root ball, this tree had a lot of fine roots.
This is the bottom of the root ball before I washed it with jets of water drastically, using an eyeleteer.
This is the bottom of the root ball after I washed it with jets of water drastically, using an eyeleteer. The volume of the roots was so much that I had to remove some of them.
And I arranged the roots. Therefore the nebari of the front and back sides is very good now.
I planted this tree in the same bonsai pot. But I think I have to consider the shape, size and colour of bonsai pot which will be most suitable to it in the near future.
The next job was to reduce the number of the flower buds on the top and upper branches because the lower branches have only a small number of them. Especially I removed two thirds of them on the top.
I spread the sphagnum on the surface of the soil. Now the height is 37 cm and the trunk girth is 41 cm. And the top has a good volume and the arrangement and length of branches are good. Therefore I think that this tree has been completed as a satsuki bonsai.
This photo was taken on June 3rd, 2012. Though it had passed only one year since I had repotted this tree on April 2nd, 2011, it had the suitable number of beautiful flowers because I had removed the considerable number of long shoots and trimmed it.
Section 3. Kakuo
I bought this tree when I went to Kanuma to see the satsuki flower show in June 1999. The price was 20,000 yen. After pruning it, I planted it in a large shallow terracotta pot. The height was 60 cm, and the trunk girth was 19 cm. And I repotted it in the bonsai pot on April 20th, 2010 after pruning it. The height was 57 cm and the trunk girth was 29 cm.
And repotting it on March 18th, 2015, I decided to reduce the number of the flower buds to enjoy the flowers in May. Though I had repotted one thirds of satsuki bonsai every year after pruning them drastically because I have a lot of satsuki bonsai, this year I decided that I tried to make some satsuki bonsai have flowers in May after repotting them in March as an experience.
Therefore I did not trim it before repotting.
Judging from the whole shape of this tree, the style is not good because the distance between the bottom and the first curve of the trunk is very short. And besides, the trunk base line is turning to the left though the whole stream of the trunk is turning toward the right. Therefore when I bought it, it was very cheap though the trunk girth was 19 cm.
Though the soil of the front side of root ball is yellowish, that of the back side is dark. It means that the roots of back side are stronger than those of the front side.
Removing the soil of the bottom, I could see a lot of fine roots. Therefore even if this tree had the considerable number of flowers in May, I thought it would be all right.
It was easy to wash the roots with jets of water completely, using an eyeleteer. The nebari of the front side of this tree is not good, but that of the back side is good. When we pulled the root balls of satsuki bonsai from the pots to repot them, judging from the colours of the soil, we can know the conditions of the roots before removing the soil.
After being washed, the bottom roots of this tree are very good. And we can see some holes among the roots. They mean that it is easy to plant this tree completely and that the drainage is so easy when I water it or it rains that it will grow strongly.
The nebari of this tree was so firm that I could fasten it with a wire. And I have to bind it on the roots of the back side lest you should see it.
After repotting this tree, I reduced the number of flower buds only on the top because I thought that it would be OK even if it had a lot of flowers in May.
This photo was taken on May 21st, 2011. Though it had passed only one year since I had repotted it on April 20th, 2010, it had a lot of beautiful flowers because it was very strong.
Attentions: The classification of the satsuki bonsai which is set down by Japan Satsuki Association
Daihin part 1: The height of tree is 55.1 cm and over. The width of tree is free.
Daihin part 2: The height is within 55 cm. The width is within 90 cm.
Chuhin part 1: The height is within 45 cm. The width is within 70 cm.
Chuhin part 2: The height is within 35 cm. The width is within 55 cm.
Shohin part 1: The height is within 25 cm. The width is within 37 cm.
Shohin part 2: The height is within 15 cm. The width is within 25 cm.
But each association and society in Japan have their classification of satsuki bonsai. A lot of them have three classifications of daihin, chuhin and shohin. Therefore, generally speaking, the tree whose height is within 20 cm or much lower, is often called mame (mini) bonsai or gokushohin. And since this time I decided to call the material the sapling if it is wthin 3 years old, and the young tree if it is 4 years old and over.
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.
