I would like to introduce how to make branches, roots and cores of the tops by grafting. About 35 years ago I made a lot of branches of trees which I had grown from the cuttings by boring holes through trunks with a drill and inserting their long new shoots into the holes. It was a fact that they were completed perfectly because I had invented special methods. But some members of Ise Satsuki Society blamed the good branch arrangement of my trees for making branches by grafting at our flower show. They insisted that my trees lacked in naturalness of satsuki bonsai because they were very artistic. At that time the method had not been introduced even in the magazine of Satsuki Kenkyu yet.
Since I began to buy some large-trunked araki in 1990, I had not applied this method to them. It was because their trunks were very thick and I could hope that they would have some good new shoots. And though I had not used it for a long time since then, I had to make some cores of the tops of the trees in the nursery by grafting about 15 years ago because some crows began to break them or they died. And I began to make roots of the trees in the nursery by grafting because I could not hope that some trees would have good nebari in the near future.
At the same time, a lot of branches of trees in the nursery were so thick that I had cut them short or remove them. And all trees had grown so luxuriantly that a considerable number of thinner branches of thick branches near the trunks were weak or some of them died. Therefore I had to make some branches by grafting their long shoots on the thick branches.
And I had a good idea when I saw a lot of new long shoots touching each other and having white roots in summer, and brown roots in autumn. I began to try to make branches by combining two or three shoots or branches together which came from the same places or near places on the trunks. Now I have two completed branches which were made by doing so.
Section 1. Making roots by grafting (root graft)
If you would like to make roots by grafting, at first you have to make some good saplings which are suitable for grafting. And you have to decide the conditions of grafting carefully: the position and angle to graft and the depth to carve. It is a problem whether you can graft a sapling to the bottom of trunk easily or not. If you can understand that it is difficult to do so, you have to consider how you can succeed in it. And you have to practice how to make good cuts like a letter of U with very sharp knives and chisels using the thick branches which you cut after blooming or when making satsuki trees into good styles. This is the very important working. The more closely you can unite them, the higher the rate of success will be. Since any professional satsuki master cannot carve both of them perfectly at one try, try to do so again and again and complete the grafting gradually. Your success will depend on this practice. Never make any cuts like a letter of V.
A. Korin
When an English youth stayed at my house for about a month from March to April, 2009, he took a lot of photos of my workings. Since the previous year, I had had a plan to make a root of Korin and heal the large scar which I had made by removing the rotten parts by some chisels and covering the carved parts with the underwater bond. But though the distance between the both sides of the scar was narrower than when I had made it, I was not sure that I would succeed in it perfectly.
I could prepare a good sapling which was suitable for grafting since I had inserted a long shoot into the Kanuma soil two years before. And I dug a hole in front of the scar and removed the bark of the sapling where it touches the part of the trunk above the scar and carved the place thinly with a sharp knife. And I made a deep cut like a letter of U on the trunk which touches the graft so that both of them may fit each other perfectly. If you make a cut like a letter of V on the trunks or branches, you may not succeed in the grafting because both of them do not fit each other, that is, there is a small space between them.
I fixed them with a thick wire after putting the pieces of water hose under it. If you fix them with a thinner wire and remove it after fixing them with a thick wire, you will succeed in fixing them well. It is better to use a thicker wire because it does not give a greater damage to the trunk or branch than a thin wire does. And I did the same thing on the top of scar. Judging from the workings on the right photo now, I think that I had two errors: the first error is not to put a piece of water hose under the binding of the wire: the second is not to plaster the medicine around the sapling lest the water should sink down between it and the Cut Paster.
But you can understand that these were my imaginary fears if you see the trunk and graft on the left photo which was taken on March 1st, 2013. There is no scar on the trunk and graft. But since I had changed the old cut paster to the new one in 2012, you cannot see the upper part of grafting on the sapling and trunk. It had passed only 4 years since I had grafted the sapling to the trunk, but small parts of the sapling and the trunk already connected. This was a good result.
You can see a small head of nail on the upper part of grafting on the middle photo obscurely which was taken on January 25, 2015. It was because I had driven a small screw nail with a screwdriver when grafting to fix the graft to the trunk. And I have to pull it out when the grafting will be completed. And now since a lot of parts of the graft and trunk connected on the right photo which was taken on March 19th, 2017, you cannot see any part of the scar. And I cannot see the head of nail on the graft because it grew thicker than it on the middle photo. If I will cut it in 2018, I have to be attentive to cutting and caving of it lest I should break the edge of a knife or a chisel. This root graft had two functions to make a root and cover the large scar. If the root is completed in a few years, this Korin will have a good nebari.
B. Juko no homare
Since this tree did not have important roots, I grafted two small saplings to the bottom of trunk in March 2011. After digging two holes on the left side of the tree, I put them there and examined whether these grafts and the bottom of trunk could unit easily or not. And I made two cuts like a letter of U to push them into the cuts and fixed their bottoms with thick wires. After putting Kanuma soil on them, I fixed them with the cut paster and pasted the medicine lest rain and water should sink down between the graft and the trunk. And I fixed them with two wires. And I removed a half number of shoots from these grafts lest they should grow thick. If they grow very thick, they may come out from the cuts.
You can see the new leaves of them on the left photo which was taken on May 9th, 2011. And they are much smaller than other leaves of this tree. Though it means that they are weak, it is my intention. But you can see these thicker grafts on the middle photo which was taken on March 1st 2013. Since these grafts and the bottom of trunk united perfectly, I cut thick branches short and removed a half of shoots to complete the root graft by cutting them next year. And now though it may be said that the nebari is not perfectly good on the right photo which was taken on March 19th, 2017, they have been completed now.
C. Shuho no hikari A
I grafted a sapling to the bottom of Shuho no hikari about 13 years ago. Therefore you can see a good root on the left side of this tree and a sapling next to it which was grafted to make a second root immediately before the left photo was taken on March 28th, 2011. You can see the new leaves of the graft on the right photo which was taken on May 9th, 2011. And they are much smaller than other leaves of this tree.
But since it grew strong and was combined with the bottom of trunk perfectly, I cut the shoots except one on March 1st2013. And though I grafted a sapling next to the second root graft to make a third root when four Dutch friends of mine came to our house in June 2016, I could not succeeded in the root graft because the graft was so poor that it died in December. Therefore I have to make a good sapling and graft it to the same place.
Section 2. Making branches by grafting (inarching)
When you would like to make a branch by grafting, if your tree has long shoots which are suitable for inarching, it is very easy to do so. Even if you broke one of them or made an error of carving, you can use other one. But if it does not have any long shoots, you have to buy a long sapling. Though my trees in the nursery have a lot of long shoots, sometimes some of them are not suitable for inarching if they do not have good angles, If they are not so, I have to wire them and make them have good angles.
A. Jukokan A
When you would like to make a branch on the trunk of satsuki tree, it is much better to unit a graft to the underside of trunk immediately before the curve of trunk than to do so across the trunk because it looks much better. When this Jukokan had a long shoot at the bottom of trunk, about 10 years ago, I wired it and wound it into a good angle so that I might graft it to the trunk immediately before the curve easily. And in the following year, I grafted it to the trunk. Though I examined whether the inarching was completed perfectly or not by removing the cut paster in February 2011, since it was not completed yet, I could not cut the graft. The left photo was taken on May 9th, 2011. And I cut it when pruning this Jukokan in March 2012. You can see a very good branch on the middle photo which was taken on March 29th, 2012. And it is growing thicker on the right photo which was taken on March 22nd, 2017.
B. Jukokan B
Though this Jukokan had a long shoot near the bottom of the trunk, since it came from the left side of the trunk, it was very difficult to wind it into a good angle with wires. Therefore I decided to make a branch by grafting it across the trunk and wired it about ten years ago. And in the following year, I grafted it to the trunk. When I took the left photo in May 9th, 2011, I judged that the inarching had not been completed yet though I had cut some shoots short in March lest it should grow thick. But I cut it because the inarching had been completed when pruning this Jukokan in March 2012. Seeing this branch on the middle photo which was taken on March 29th, 2012, you can understand that this branch is thinner than the above branch of Jukokan A. It depends on my intention. Now it is growing thicker on the right photo which was taken on March 5th, 2017.
Though the angle between the trunk and this branch is better than that between the trunk and branch of Juko A, the part of inarching on the back side of trunk is not smooth on the left photo which was taken on March 21th, 2017. And seeing the following two photos of other tree (whose variety I cannot remember) which were taken on April 5th, 2009, you can understand the conditions of inarching. If these parts of the former and the latter will swell on the trunk, I have to chip the swelling parts away with a sharp knife or chisel so that I may these trunks smooth. Therefore we have to make a deep cut which is suitable for the graft and make it have small number of shoots which were cut short lest we should make it very thick. Of course, succeeding in the inarching, we had better grow it as large and thickly as possible.
C. Hikari no tsukasa A
It is said that Hikari no tsukasa is the variety which does not have a lot of new shoots after we prune it drastically after booming or style it drastically though it is a kind of bud sport of Nikko. Since the right first branch of this tree in the nursery did not have any branches near the trunk about 10 years ago, I grafted two shoots on the branch. And I grafted two shoots on the branch 5 years ago again because the small branches had died. Therefore you can see four parts of inarching on the photo which was take on March 5th, 2017. The surfaces of two of them are not smooth. I think it is because the cuts which I had made had not been deep or the grafts grew very thick.
If I would like to make them smooth, I have to chip the swelling parts away with a sharp knife or chisel. But other two are good. If this tree had been planted in a pot, I think all of them would have been good though it is a problem whether it had any long shoots which were suitable for inarching or not.
Section 3. Making a core of top
When we cut cores of tops very short to make the whole trunks have very good tapers, sometimes some of them die. And sometimes crows break them, other shoots and small branches. But in these cases when we graft a shoot between two branches or on the bottom of branch, it is difficult to keep the graft in a good angle. Therefore we have to wire it to make it have a good angle. Or we had better cut the graft and make a new core of top by the new shoot which will come from it.
A. Shuho no hikari B
I would like to explain how I made a core of top of Shuho no hikari in the nursery by using the photos which were taken on April 2nd, 2009. Though the core of top died, any new shoots had not come from the top of this tree. When I found a new shoot on a branch below the top branch, I decided to graft it between the branch and the trunk.
In this case I could not make a deep cut which was suitable for this thick graft but I fixed it with a thick wire. The left photo is the graft and you can see the dead core of top. The middle one is the same in another angle. You can understand why I could not make a deep cut for the graft. It had a problem of angle to make a core of top. The right one is after grafting the shoot on the trunk.
And I pasted the medicine after cramming the cut paster lest the rain should come into the part of inarching. This is an important working. The left photo is the front side of the tree after the working. The middle one is the back side. And the right is the top of the tree in May 2011. Though the top shoots of the graft were cut short in February, you cannot see a lot of new shoots coming from the trunk of the graft. It is because Shuho no hikari is one of weak varieties.
The left photo is the whole figure of this tree after pruning in February 2013. You cannot see any necessary shoots coming on the left photo but since some good new shoots were seen on the trunk of the graft on the middle photo which was taken on January 25th, 2015, I could cut it very short. And the right photo was taken after pruning in February 2017. Now this tree has a good top which will be completed in some years.
B. Hikari no tsukasa B and C
These varieties are Hikari no tsukasa. You can see a completed inarching on the left and middle photos of Hikari no tsukasa B. But the graft had grown so thick last year that I could not wind it into a good angle with wire though I wired it when pruning the tree in February 2017. Therefore I have to change it for a new shoot which will come from it. And you can see a completed inarching on the right photo of Hikari no tsukasa C. But I cannot cut the unnecessary thick branches of the tops of both trees because till these grafts will grow thick. These photos were taken on March 21st, 2017.
C. Kozan
And when we would like to cut a very tall satsuki tree into a half size or a large tree does not any branches on the middle part of trunk, we had better make a new core of top by grafting. Since this Kozan was very tall and did not any good branches on the middle part of trunk, I grafted a long shoot on the trunk about 20 years ago. And cutting the trunk about 15 years ago, the taper of upper half of trunk looked much better on the left photo which was taken on March 1st, 2013. And since the shape of the new core was not good, hoping that a new good shoot would come, I cut it. The middle photo was taken on April 14th, 2014. And a good shoot which is suitable for the core of top has not come on the right photo which was taken on March 17th, 2017 since 2014. Therefore if this tree will have a very long shoot, I have to graft it in the near future.
Section 4. Grafting for improving the colour arrangement of flowers
Inarching is a very usuful method when you would like to change the colour arrangement of a variegated variety, especially a variegated variety lacks in a colour which it has to have. In this case, after confirming the colour of flower of the graft, you have to graft it to the trunk or branch to make a core of top or a branch.
If you see these photos of Shin-nikko, you cannot recognise that this colour arrangement of flowers is strange. Though his variety has to have white flowers, the top of this tree has only white flowers. Therefore I decided to make a core of top and two branches by grafting in February 2016 and wound the five grafts with wires to make them have good angles. If I succeed in doing so, this good colour arrangement of flowers will be completed. The left photo is the front side of this tree, the middle is the top, and the right is the back. They were taken on May 19th, 2016.
Generally speaking, a lot of satsuki enthusiasts in Japan do not like the tops of only red flowers or white ones concerning the satsuki varieties which have to have variegated flowers. This top of only white flowers was caused from my errors. I had not cut it for a long time to make the trunk thicker rapidly because this tree had not had any good shoots which were suitable for a core of top. Therefore I cut the all branches and shoots of the top very short in February 2014 so that some good shoots might come from the trunk. But my expectation was not granted. The left photo was taken on April 14th 2014.
Though the bottom of trunk is very thick, the trunk of the top is a little bit thick, too. Therefore this tree had to have a serious operation in February 2017. I grafted two shoots to the trunk and one to a branch and removed two backup grafts. Since they were considerably thick, it was difficult to graft them. You may be surprised to see three parts of inarching on the middle and right photos which was taken on February 10th, 2017. I am not sure that this operation will be completed perfectly in two years and I will be able to remove the rests of top and the branch by a branch cutter and a sharp knife in three or four years smoothly. I think it is better if we can use the thinner shoots or branches for grafting.
Section 5. Making branches by binding some branches or shoots
Even if two or three shoots came from the place where a lot of satsuki enthusiasts had wanted a new shoot to come, perhaps they would choose a very good shoot and remove other. But about 20 years ago I had an idea that I might get a good result if I could unite them by binding them together with a wire.
A. Juko
Though two shoots were very thin, since they had come from the place where I had wanted a new shoot to come, I bound them with a wire about 20 years ago, hoping that they would unite and be the second left branch in the near future. But they did not grow large soon because they had been very thin when being bound with a wire. And at last I could see them uniting into a branch perfectly when pruning it in 2009. But it did not look as good as other branches on the left photo which was taken on April 10th, 2009.
Since the branch grew larger, I thought that I would dig out this Juko from the nursery and plant it in a bonsai pot after washing the roots in January 2014. But since the left second and back second branches did not any shoots and small branches near the trunk, I grafted two long shoots on them when pruning this Juko in February. You can see the two conditions of inarching on the middle and right photos which were taken on March 18th, 2014.
Now it has past just three years since I grafted two long shoots on the two branches. But I could not separate them from the branches because these new branches were not strong. Though I think that I succeeded in grafting because the parts of inarching are smooth, I would like to cut them after seeing the conditions of their flowers. The left photo is the second left branch and the middle one is the second left and back branch. These photos were taken on March 14th, 2017. And the right is the flowers in 2016.
B. Sachi no hana
When pruning this Sachi no hana in the nursery in 2008, fortunately I saw two shoots coming from the place where I had wanted a new shoot to come, and bound them by a wire. Since the wire had cut into the branches deeply, I removed it and bound them with a thick wire again in February 2009. But seeing the left photo which was taken on March 24th, 2009, you can recognise that they finished uniting at only two parts of them. It is because I did not pare the bark of these branches when binding them with a wire in 2008. This is one of my errors.
You can see these two branches uniting completely on the middle photo which was taken on February 7th 2015. Compared with other necessary branches on the right photo which was taken on February 6th, 2017, this united branch looks as good as them now. And it will be completed as the second left branch in three years.
C. Nissho no hikari
When pruning this Nissho no hikari in the nursery in 2014, fortunately I saw some shoots coming from the place where I had wanted a new shoot to come. And I chose four shoots which were suitable for making a branch by binding them by a wire and removed others. But since this wire was thin, you can see it cutting into them deeply on the left photo which was taken on February 7th, 2015. If this branch will be completed in the near future, you can understand that the arrangement of branches of this tree will be considerably good when you see the middle photo of this tree, which was taken on February 7th, 2015. And you can see these four branches uniting completely on the right photo which was taken on March 19th, 2017. But perhaps I have to cut this branch short to make it taper away in some years because it is straight without winding parts.
D. Hakurin
Two new shoots came from the place where I had wanted a new shoot to come in 2013 after. And since they were a little bit strong, I bound them by a wire in February 2015 after cutting the thick branch under them you can see them on the left photo which was taken on February 9th, 2015. And you can see only the bottoms of them uniting a little bit on the middle photo. Seeing the right photo, you can see that this tree has a good arrangement of branches now. These two photos were taken on March 19th, 2017.
E. Jukokan C
At first, one new shoot came from the place where I had wanted a new shoot to come in 2012. And a thin shoot came from the place near the bottom of it next year. But since both of them were not long and thick, I supported them with a wire in 2014. And I bound them with a wire on February 7th, 2015 and took the left photo. And since the third shoot came from the place near them, I bound three of them with a fire and took the middle and right photos. Though you can see the little space between two branches near the trunk of this tree on the left photo, you cannot see any space between them on the right photo. Therefore I think that it is a very good method to make a thicker branch by binding some shoots or branches with a wire.
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