You know it is difficult to prune the satsuki trees of variegated flowers much better so that they may have good colour arrangements of flowers as I told you before. Of course it is very easy to prune your satsuki trees of variegated flowers if you got the young trees which have good colour arrangements of flowers. But you may see a lot of young trees at some satsuki shops which have a lot of red flowers though these varieties have to have variegated flowers. It is because women like these red flowers of varieties which have to have variegated flowers and buy them. It is sure that even if you grew them into good bonsai, you cannot get any prises at the satsuki flower shows.
In this web site, I would like to introduce my special case of growing satsuki trees in summer 2016. This is my first experience because we had very strange weather in spring, summer and autumn. It was so warm in spring that my satsuki trees had flowers more than 10 days earlier than usual. And since I was scheduled to guide four Dutch friends through Kyoto, Nara, Nanki and Ise on June 2nd to 9th, I had to prune one thirds of them before they came to our house though I always prune them in July. And we had sometimes an extremely much quantity of rain in the rainy season which was long. And the maximum temperature in midsummer sometimes was more than 35 degrees C in Ise. This was my first experience and I could not work in the garden in the daytime when it was 35 degrees C. And the autumn rainy season was much longer than usual and we sometimes had an extremely much quantity of rain in September and the first ten days of October. Therefore some of my satsuki trees died but other trees could survive the severe summer. Especially my young trees of Kogetsu and Asuka were so strong that I pruned them again on July 19th. This is my first experience, too.
Section 1. The Young Kogetsu
I explained “How to prune the young trees of Kogetsu after blooming” in the web site whose date was July 15th 2016. Therefore I think you could understand the basic methods and theories. But I had a new problem about a lot of satsuki trees that each of them had much longer new shoots than usual in midsummer because they had had flowers more than 10 days earlier than usual and I had pruned them after blooming. In Japan it is said that it is OK if we pruned the satsuki trees by the Star Festival (July 7th).
It was the problem that I had to cut the long shoots of young Kogetsu short or remove them in midsummer. Even if I had removed the overies after blooming and pruned them on July 7th, they are so strong that I thought each of them would have a lot of long new shoots. Therefore I took their photos to record their growth on July 7th. And I could remember that a professional master of satsuki had told us that if he had pruned the satsuki bonsai by the end of July it would be OK when we had visited his satsuki garden in Nara prefecture about 35 years ago. But since a lot of satsuki trees in the garden do have only a few flower buds or do not have a lot of them recently, I finished pruning them within June in 2016 though I think this problem may be caused from other conditions.
And I decided to prune them on July 19th again so that they might have a lot of new shoots and flower buds. But I had the very great problem again: we had only 7 fine days in September in Ise though they had only 3 fine days in Tokyo. And besides, we had a lot of rainy days in the first half of October, too. Therefore I was afraid that they would not have a lot of flower buds because of lack of sunlight. But fortunately we had a lot of fine days in the second half of October. And I am happy to see a lot of flower buds and the good shapes and you can see them on the photos which I took on October 29th.
Now all my young trees of Kogetsu have good colour arrangements. It is because I continued to remove red new shoots and removed the shoots which had red flowers whenever I pruned them. I like Kogetsu which has a lot of white and red-striped flowers, a few red ones, a few fukurin (white jewel border) and a few sokojiro (white throat). Even if a young sapling had only some red-striped flowers among white ones, according to its genes it will have a few red flowers in the near future.
To have an experience, I removed all red stalks when pruning the young trees of Kogetsu on July 19th again and hoped that they would not have any fukurin or sokojiro next year. And at the same time I had to be afraid whether a lot of new shoots would have flower buds or not. Of course I did not prune other satsuki trees again, which are completed bonsai even if each of them had a lot of long shoots. Please judge the conditions of young Kogetsu and Asuka on the following photos.
A. Kogetsu A
This colour arrangement of flowers of Kogetsu A is very good though a considerable number of the ends of shoots do not have flowers. It is because I removed the shoots which had red flowers, fukurin and sokojiro whenever I pruned it after blooming. Therefore it was easy that I pruned this tree after booming on May 29th. But since this pruning was more than 10 days earlier than usual, I was afraid that it would have a lot of very long shoots at the end of autumn. Therefore I did not give it a lot of fertilisers after pruning. And I watched it whenever I watered it. When I took some photos of it on July 7th, I decided to prune it again by the end of July. Refer to the photos and sentences in my web sites whose dates are November 27th 2012 and June 14th 2013. The left photo was taken on May 24th 2016. The middle photo is the front side of it and the right one the back side.
I think this tree must be 12 years old. If it is so, since the genes of the flowers of red, fukurin and sokojiro already are not much stronger than those of pure white and red-striped flowers, I may keep several flowers of red, fukurin and sokojiro.
This tree had a lot of long new shoots when these photos were taken on July 19th. If I kept them till it will have a lot of flowers next year, they will be so long that the whole shape of this tree will not be very beautiful as bonsai when blooming. The left photo is the front side of this tree before it is pruned again, and the right one the back side.
But since I found three red stalks when I pruned it on July 19th, I removed them and unnecessary shoots though I cut long necessary shoots short. You can see a red stalk on each photo.
Though this tree has a rather good shape as two-trunked satsuki bonsai, we cannot say that it is a completed bonsai because both of the trunks have a little bit large ruts which wires made. I think it will take them more than 4 years to disappear. These photos were taken on July 19th after it was pruned. The left photo is the front side of this tree and the right the back side.
I did not give the young trees of Kogetsu a lot of fertilisers immediately after pruning lest it should have a lot of very long new shoots which will not have any flower buds. I was right because we had a lot of rainy days in September. And when the autumn rainy season was over, I gave some large ball fertilisers to them. But since we had a lot of rainy and cloudy days in the first half of October in Ise, I was afraid that these new shoots would not have a lot of flower buds. When I saw these new shoots having a lot of very small flower buds and the pale green leaves on October 20th, I gave it the very small grains of organic fertilisers. These photos were taken on October 29th. The left photo is the front side of this tree, and the middle the back side. And the right is the back branches which hane a lot of flower buds.
B. Kogetsu B
This colour arrangement of flowers of Kogetsu B seems to be good because it has only a few strong-coloured flowers though it is not in full-bloom. And a considerable number of the ends of shoots do not have flowers because I repotted it in June 2015. If we did not attach the rings as marks to the shoots of our Kogetsu which had red flowers, we have to prune it only to make it into a good shape. But since I removed them whenever I repotted this tree, I could prune it drastically more than 10 days earlier than usual on May 29th because I was scheduled to guide my friends through each famous place on June 2nd to 9th. When I took some photos of this tree on July 7th, I decided to prune it again by the end of July. Refer to the photos and sentences in my web site whose date is June 14th 2013. The left photo of flowers was taken on May 20th. The middle one is the front side of it, and the left the back side.
Though this tree does not have a lot of very long new shoots because it was repotted last year, since it must be 9 or 10 years old and is strong and healthy, I could hope that a lot of new shoots would come from the trunk and branches. My thought was right because it had a lot of long new shoots when I watched it on July 19th. And I thought that it was a good material of two-trunked bonsai whose angle between the two trunks is very good. These photos were taken on July 19th. The left photo is the front side of this tree and the right is the back side.
Since it is a fact that Kogetsu has a gene of a red flower and the new shoots which will have red flowers next year are not red but green, we cannot choose and remove them when we trim it in summer and autumn. But we can remove the red new shoots which will have fukurin and sokojiro next year. I found 6 red stalks on the trunk and branches on July 19th. The left photo is the left branch of the main trunk, and the middle the back branch of the main trunk. And the right is the top of the main trunk which has a very long red shoot.
After I removed 6 red stalks and pruned this tree on July 19th, the shape was so good that I decided to keep it till it will die. But I had to be afraid whether it will have a lot of flower buds by the end of October or not. These photos were taken on July 19th. The left photo is the front side of it and the right is the back side.
But the fear about it disappeared in the last ten days of October when I continued to watch this tree. It is because it had a lot of flower buds though they were a little bit small. If I remove unnecessary shoots and cut the long shoots short in winter, I will be able to enjoy seeing a good shape when it will have a lot of flowers next year. These photos were taken on October 29th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the middle the back side. And the right is the branches which have a lot of flower buds.
C. Kogetsu C
Kogetsu C was not repotted into a bonsai pot last year because the trunk was thinner than those in the bonsai pots and the soil in the terracotta pot was not hard. Since it had only a lot of red-striped flowers and two flowers of sokojiro among white flowers, that is, the present colour-arrangement of flowers as young Kogetsu is good, I like it very much. It is because I am sure that it will have some red flowers in several years when it will be completed as bonsai. But if the tree which you bought as Kogetsu had only pure white flowers, you have to dispose of it. Since it does not have any genes of red flower, fukurin and sokojiro, it will not have any flowers of them for ever.
I could prune this tree drastically after blooming without paying attention to the colour arrangement of flowers. These photos were taken on May 20th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the right the back side.
And taking a lot of photos of other young trees of Kogetsu on July 7th, I did not take some photos of this tree because it did not have a lot of long shoots. But when I saw it before I pruned them on July 19th, it had a lot of long shoots because it was strong and healthy. And besides, it did not have any red stalks. It meant that it would not have any fukurin and sokojiro in 2017 though it may be able to have a few red flowers because I think it has the gene of red flower. The left photo is the front side of this tree and the middle the back side before I pruned it. The right is the back branches. These photos were taken on July 19th.
When I pruned this tree on July 19th, the figure of two-trunked tree was so good that I decided to repot it into a bonsai pot in March or after blooming in 2017. But if I changed the angle to plant it when repotting it, I think it will be much better. These photos were taken on July 19th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the right the back side.
This tree is so strong that it has a lot of very long new shoots now though it has passed only 3 months since I pruned it again on July 19th. Though some of them are so long, I would like to keep them so that the trunks may grow thicker. And it does not have any red stalks like it on July 19th. And besides, it has a lot of flower buds. Since it has a good shape now and the soil in the pot is a little bit hard, I will repot it into a bonsai pot in March or after blooming next year. These photos were taken on October 29th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the middle the back side. And the right is the back branches which have a lot of flower buds.
D. Kogetsu D
Kogetsu D was not repotted into a bonsai pot last year, either, because it had the same conditions as Kogetsu C had. Since it had several large red-striped flowers, fukurin and sokojiro, and three red flowers, the present colour arrangement of flowers as young Kogetsu is not very good. Though I could not remove all of them, I pruned it drastically after blooming. Therefore its whole figure was rather smart when I took its photos on July 7th. But since it had rather long shoots, I decided to prune it by the end of July. These photos of flowers were taken on May 21st. The left photo is the front side of this tree which has a few fukurin and some large red-striped flowers but the back side on the middle photo has three red flowers and several fukurin and sokojiro. The right photo is its front side.
Though I had not given this tree a lot of fertilisers, it was so strong and healthy that it had a lot of long shoots before I pruned it on July 19th. The left photo is its front side and the right the back side.
Though I had removed a lot of shoots of red flowers, fukurin and sokojiro when I had pruned it after blooming, it had 7 red stalks on July 19th. Therefore I removed all of them and pruned it again. The lower part of main trunk on the left photo has 2 red stalks. The back branch of main trunk on the middle one has 3 red stalks. And the right branch of main trunk on the left one has a red stalk.
Since I removed all red stalks and pruned this tree drastically again on July 19th, its whole figure is rather smart. Especially I did not make the lower parts of both trunks have any branches which I think will be apt to have red flowers, fukurin and sokojiro.
I cannot see any red stalks on the photos which were taken on October 29th, but since the gene of red flower in this tree is so strong that it may have a few red flowers in 2017. And fortunately it has a lot of flower buds at almost all ends of new shoots. And besides, it is so strong that it has several very long shoots, but I will not cut them short to make the trunks grow thicker till winter or spring. And I will not cut the wire with which I wound the child trunk when pruning it after blooming, so that the good angle between two trunks may be fixed. Since it has a good shape now and the soil in the pot is a little bit hard, I will repot it into a bonsai pot in March or after blooming next year. These photos were taken on October 29th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the middle the back side. And the right is the back branches which have a lot of flower buds.
Section 2. The Young Asuka
Asuka is one of the varieties which have large variegated flowers. Therefore if some bonsai of Asuka aren't middle or tall, we mustn't make them have a lot of flowers because 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 except special cases. Especially it is impossible to grow them as small bonsai if they have variegated flowers. Therefore a lot of Japanese satsuki enthusiasts like to grow them tall to enjoy all colours of the variety, and to consider the colour arrangement of flowers to make them look more beautiful.
You can recognise that this tree seems to have all colours of flowers which the variety of Asuka has to have. Therefore it looks very beautiful at first sight. 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.
You had better make your young trees of Asuka have as many flowers as you can till you can confirm whether they have all colours that the variety has to have or not. If some of them have only white and pale-coloured flowers or a lot of deep purple flowers, you cannot hope that they will have all colours in the near future, so that you had better dispose of them because you won't be able to exhibit them on the shelves at your flower shows when they are completed as bonsai.
A. Asuka A
Asuka A was so strong that it had a lot of long shoots when I watched it on July 7th. Therefore I decided to prune it again by the end of July. Refer to the photos and sentences about it in my web site whose date is August 14th 2013. I think it is useful to read the topics about saplings and young trees of satsuki and to apply my methods to growing your satsuki trees.
The left photo was taken on May 24th 2016. The middle photo is the front side of it and the right one the back side. These photos were taken immediately before it was pruned on July 19th.
Though the colour arrangement of flowers of this tree is very good, I do not like the trunk base line because it is lacking in the natural stream of trunk. Though this tree must be 13 or 14 years old, the trunk is not thick judging from its age. Since to sell a lot of satsuki trees at our satsuki flower show, I who was the leader of the society asked the members to grow a lot of saplings about 15 years ago, I had to grow them, too. Perhaps this Asuka is one of the trees which I could not sell, that is, I did not have any plans to grow them as bonsai at that time. However hard I would like to make it into a good bonsai, I will never succeed in it in my life. Therefore we must not grow any trees which have some severe defects. If you would like to enjoy seeing only flowers, it is OK.
I am sorry that since I did not take any photos of this tree after pruning it again on July 19th, I cannot show them to you. It is so strong that it has a lot of long shoots on October 29th. Though the very long shoots disturb the shape of tree now, I will not cut them short or remove them to make the trunk grow thicker till winter or spring. I am sure that I will be unable to make it into a good bonsai, but since the clumsy curve on the trunk near the bottom may be very blunt if the trunk will grow very thick, I would like to try to do so. It is because it has a very good colour arrangement of flowers. And now it has a lot of flower buds. These photos were taken on October 29th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the middle the back side. And the right is the back branches which have a lot of flower buds.
B. Asuka B
I introduced this Asuka B in my web site whose dates are November 27th 2012, January 27th 2013 and August 14th 2013. Since I repotted it in June last year, it did not have a lot of flowers when I took the photos of the flowers on May 24th 2016, that is, since it had had a considerable damage from being repotted after the roots had been washed, it did not have a lot of new shoots in summer and a lot of flower buds in early autumn in 2015.
But the colour arrangement of flowers of this tree is very good. And besides, these flowers are very beautiful. Though the trunk base line is not very good, the shape of tree is not bad. Therefore I would like to keep it, too, because I have only one large Asuka in the nursery.
It had not been so strong when I had pruned it after blooming that it did not have a lot of new long shoots on July 19th when I pruned other young trees. Therefore I thought that I had better not prune it. But now it has a lot of long shoots and a lot of flower buds at the ends of almost all new shoots. These photos were taken on October 29th. The left photo is the front side of it, and the middle the back side. And the right is the back branches which have a lot of flower buds.
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