Satsuki and Other Trees in Mack's Garden 57

Renewal June 1st, 2020

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At first, I would like to pray for a lot of people who died from the coronavirus in the world. This is the great massacre by a virus which I have not experienced in my life. Since the second world war had been caused by the human ambition and stupidity, it was stopped by the people. But nobody will be able to stop it for a long time as long as a new medicine against it isn’t invented or found.

A lot of Japanese people like to see the beautiful flowers of a lot of cherry trees. But since we haven’t been allowed to go to the places where a lot of people gathered, I could not enjoy them. Therefore, I had only a small pleasure to see the flowers of Kawazuzakura and a small size of flowers of cherry trees in the pots in my garden.

Kawazuzakura began to have some flowers on February 19th and finished flowering on March 10th. Though it had not had a lot of flowers till 2019, it had a lot of them this year. Since it was very warm in February, it had flowers much earlier in Ise than always. But it began to have flowers on 13th in some districts where it is warmer than in Ise. It is a great pleasure to see the cherry blossoms in the very cold winter.

I bought the sapling when I and my wife went to Kawazu town to see the cherry blossoms on 23rd February 2013 by bus tour. And I have 6 cherry trees which have two kinds of small flowers. When she went to Hokkaido and Mt. Fuji long years ago, she bought each sapling as a souvenir for me. One of varieties is Fuji cherry (Orunus incisa), and other is unknown. Since these trees had been repotted on February 25th, they had flowers much later. But now I cannot distinguish the varieties among them.

You can see the flowers of Kawazuzakura which is not in full bloom on the left photo. The photo was taken on February 26th. The middle photo may be Fuji cherry which is about 25 years old. The photo was taken on March 26th. You can see a lot of flowers of young tree on the right photo which was taken on April 2nd. This tree is the tiller (hikobae) of Fuji cherry which were cut off from the parent when I repotted it in March 2011, I think that since it has so much thinner trunk than the parent and the soil in the pot is so less than that of the parent that it had more damage from the severe coldness in winter it had flowers a week later.


Repotting of Satsuki Trees in March


Until 2019 it took me about two weeks to prune satsuki bonsai, remove the soil, wash the roots, plant them in the bonsai pots and spread the sphagnum on the soil in the pots in March. But, since I sold 26 satsuki bonsai on March 6th, 2020, I had a lot of time to repot satsuki trees after washing the roots. Therefore, I could repot 10 young trees, 12 young satsuki bonsai, 3 cascades, 4 completed bonsai and 8 middle and large bonsai which have rotten parts in the trunks and branches. Though I began to prune young trees on 19th, since it continued to rain at the end of March, I finished repotting on April 2nd.

Section 1. Repotting of young trees in the terracotta pots


I pruned 10 young trees drastically which had been planted in the terracotta pots on March 19th. Since I introduced 8 of them twice in the web site whose dates were on April 2nd, 2015 and on December 7th, 2018, if you are interested in them, you can find out a lot of photos and read the details of growing young small satsuki trees in the archives of my web site.

Since they had been repotted in June 2017, the soil wasn’t hard, so that I didn’t remove the soil completely and wash the roots drastically. And I planted some of them in No, 7 terracotta pots and the rest in the same pots. These workings were so easy that I could finish these jobs on 20th.

A. Nikko A


About 20 years ago I found the small leaves on a branch of the large tree of Nikko which had been planted in the large terracotta pot. And though the branch had had only flowers of pink ground (jiai) for several years, when it had red-striped flowers, taking a lot of cuttings, I inserted them into the Kanuma soil. Since the leaves are smaller than those of the parent, these saplings didn’t grow large and strong. But they began to grow large and strong after I had planted them in No.6 terracotta pots.

Following trees of Nikko are 8 of them. Since this tree of Nikko A was so strong that it had a lot of long shoots. Therefore, though the height is very short, the trunk is thick. Of course, I have grown it in a little bit larger terracotta pot to make the trunk thicker as soon as possible. And when I pruned it, I made it have some unnecessary shoots to make it recover the strength as soon as possible and to check the colours of flowers. The whole figure is very good after pruning.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the back side. The third one is the front side after pruning. And the right one is the back side.



The soil in the pot isn’t so hard that I didn’t remove it completely. You can see a small number of grains of Kanuma soil on the surface of roots and on the back side of roots after washing. But if it is very hard, I have to remove it completely so that the roots may have a lot of new roots more easily. I planted it in the same terracotta pot because the soil was not very hard. Since it has the very good taper of the trunk and the very good style after it was repotted, I can hope that it will be a good small bonsai in 6 years when I will plant it in a bonsai pot.

The left photo is the whole figure of this tree after I washed the roots. The second one is the back side of the roots. The third one is the front side of it after it was repotted. And the right one is the back side.


B. Nikko B


This tree of Nikko B was so strong that it had a lot of long shoots. Though the height is very short, the taper of the trunk and the style are very good. I can hope that it will be a good small bonsai in 6 years when I will be able to plant it in a bonsai pot. Since I made it have several flower buds when I pruned it, I hope that one of them will have a red-striped flower.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third photo is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.


C. Nikko C


If I call this tree Nikko, it may not be right. It is because it has only white flowers. But it is a fact that it has smaller leaves and is the brother of other trees whose parent is Nikko, that is, it is a bud sport of Nikko. Therefore, it is only one being among a lot of varieties of satsuki trees in my garden. Since we have two varieties of Shirokozan and Akakozan, I may be able to call it Shironikko though I am not allowed to register the name of Shironikko. It is a fact that we cannot register any names of the tree which has smaller leaves of Nikko. It is because the variety of Nikko sometimes has small leaves.

Since this tree had a lot of long shoots, the taper of the trunk is good, but the style isn’t very good. The white flowers of it mean that other trees of the brothers have the gene of white flower. Therefore, I can hope that they will have white flowers in the near future. But contrarily, I may be unable to hope that they will have red flowers in the near future.

The left photo is the front side of Nikko C before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side of it after it was repotted.


D. Nikko D


Since this tree had a lot of shoots, the taper of the trunk is good, but the style isn’t very good. And the nebari isn’t very good, neither. But it is said that it is no problem even if a small bonsai didn’t have good nebari. Though I had to cut the thick root short lest it should grow very thick, I didn't do so. But I have to do so when I will repot it next time.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.


E. Nikko E


Since this Nikko E has a lot of long shoots, the trunk is thick and the taper of it is very good. But the style is not good. Therefore, I changed the front side into the back side when I repotted it. But the style is not very good now. If the bottom of the trunk will be very thick in 6 years, since it may be able to have much better style than now, I will be able to plant it in a bonsai pot. If not, I think that I will restyle it.

It is very easy to restyle a young satsuki trees because it will be able to have a lot of new shoots everywhere. Therefore, it is very important that every young satsuki tree has a good trunk base line because we cannot restyle it. But, if a semi-completed satsuki bonsai doesn’t have necessary branch or root, we can recover it with grafting.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the new front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the new front side after it was repotted.


F. Nikko F


Since this Nikko F had a lot of shoots, the taper of the trunk is very good. But the left first branch was so thick that I removed it when I pruned it. And when the trunk will grow thick in 6 years when I will repot it, the right first branch may be very thick. If so, I will remove it when it will have a necessary thin shoot or cut it very short.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.


G. Hikorin


The top broke when it fell down from the shelf by the very strong wind several years ago. Though I restyled it by wiring the top, the style is not good now. Since it had a lot of shoots, the taper of the trunk isn’t bad. Though the nebari isn’t good, it is no problem because it is a small bonsai. It is sure that I have to remove the left second branch when I will repot it next time because it will be very thick. At the same time, I have to remove these lower branches when it will have good shoots. I think it will take me a long time to make it into a good bonsai.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.


H. Shuho no hikari


Since this tree has a lot of long shoots, the trunk is thick and the taper of it is good. And the style is good now. But since I have to make it into a small bonsai, when I will repot it in 6 years, if the left and right first branches will grow very thick, I have to cut them very short or remove them when the trunk will have good shoots.

It is most difficult to make the branches when we make young satsuki trees into small bonsai because lower branches of them will grow very thick in several years after you get good styles of them. Therefore, I think it is a good plan that I give a very small quantity of fertilisers to them lest the trunks and branches should grow thick. And if I would like to keep the present style of this tree, I will change the pot to a smaller pot.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.


I. Nikko G


This Nikko G is one of lots of trees which I have grown from cuttings and have smaller leaves than Nikko of the parent. Since I would like to grow it as small bonsai and to make it have a good taper, I have grown it in the terracotta pot. But since the leaves are small, the bottom of the trunk isn’t very thick now. And the style after repotting isn’t very good.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.


J. Nikko H


This Nikko H is one of a lot of trees which I have grown from cuttings and have smaller leaves than Nikko of the parent, too. Though the right first branch is a little bit thick, the taper and the style are very good. But if I would like to make it have a very thick trunks, I have to cut the below branches short or to change them with good shoots lest they should be very thick.

The left photo is the front side of this tree before pruning. The second one is the front side after pruning. The third one is the whole figure of the front side after I washed the roots. The right one is the front side after it was repotted.



Section 2. Young satsuki bonsai


Sometimes I inserted a lot of cuttings into the Kanuma soil to give some of them to my friends and grow the rest because I think that I will be able to grow them when I will be very old. Though I sold several young bonsai at the start of March, I have a lot of young satsuki bonsai.

I repotted 9 young satsuki bonsai after washing the roots in March. Since they were repotted 3 years ago, I thought that if the soil in the pots was not hard, I would like to make them have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might enjoy flowers. Therefore, I pruned them after repotting them.

A. Kogetsu B and C


Though I introduced 8 trees of Kogetsu in the last web site, I show you the photos of these two trees which I repotted in March because the soil in the pot was a little bit hard. When I removed the soil, it wasn’t so hard that I made these trees have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might enjoy the flowers and changed the pot of Kogetsu B into a larger round bonsai pot and one of Kogetsu C into a larger rectangular bonsai pot. Both of them have good styles of two-trunked bonsai.

The left photo is the front side of Kogetsu B before pruning. The second one is the front side after repotting. The third one is the front side of Kogetsu C before pruning. The right one is the front side after repotting.


B. Nikko I and J


These two-trunked trees have smaller leaves than Nikko of their parent, too. But though I hadn’t had an intention to grow them large, I planted them in a little bit larger bonsai pots in March 2017. When I removed the soil last March, it wasn’t so hard that I made these trees have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might enjoy the flowers and planted them in a little bit larger bonsai pots. Though both of them have a good style, I think it is better if I will restyle the child trunk of Nikko J.

The left photo is the front side of Nikko I before pruning. The second one is the front side after repotting. The third one is the front side of Nikko J before pruning. The right one is the front side after repotting.


C. Nikko K and L


These three-trunked trees have smaller leaves than Nikko of their parent, too. But though I hadn’t had an intention to grow them large, I planted them in the larger bonsai pots in March 2017. When I removed the soil last March, it wasn’t so hard that I made these trees have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might enjoy the flowers and planted them in a little bit larger bonsai pots. The whole figures of them after repotting aren’t bad.

The left photo is the front side of Nikko K before pruning. The second one is the front side after repotting. The third one is the front side of Nikko L before pruning. The right one is the front side after repotting.


D. Cascades of Nikko M and Hikorin A and B

This cascade of Nikko M has smaller leaves than Nikko of the parent, too. Since the bottom of the trunk was thick, I planted it in the larger deep bonsai pot when I repotted it in June 2017. Though the style isn’t bad, the trunk doesn’t have any strong bending up, down, left and right.

If a young cascade has a lot of branches, it is very difficult to make the trunk have some strong bends with wires. If you would like to make a cascade which has a very good style, you had better buy a very long sapling and bend it with wires. As I introduced it in the last web site, it had had two red flowers last May. Therefore, the soil in the pot wasn’t so hard that I made it have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might enjoy the good colour-arrangement of beautiful flowers.

The bottoms of the trunks of these Hikorin A and B are thinner than that of the above Nikko M. Though the leaves of the latter are larger than those of the former, I think that it is because the pots of the latter are smaller than that of the former. Since Hikorin B has a very long shoot at the end of the top, I wired it to restyle the top after blooming. If you are interested in the records of growth of these trees, please read the articles of the web site whose date is December 22nd, 2017. You can see that of Nikko M there, too.

The left photo is the front side of Nikko M after it was repotted. The middle one is the front side of Hikorin A after it was repotted. The right one is the front side of Hikorin B after it was repotted.



Section 3. Semi-completed satsuki bonsai


Though I sold some semi-completed satsuki bonsai at the start of March, I have still a lot of young satsuki bonsai because I would like to keep them as long as I can live. If growing of satsuki will be removed from me at the age of 85, I will have nothing to do. But I have to give up fishing when I will be unable to walk freely. Though I will be 78 years old on June 4th, I can bring a fertiliser bag of 20 kg easily if the distance is within 30 m.

I repotted 6 semi-completed satsuki bonsai after washing the roots in March. Since they were repotted 3 years ago, I thought that if the soil in the pots was not hard, I would like to make 5 trees of them have one 5ths of flower buds except Asuka so that I might enjoy flowers. Therefore, I pruned them after repotting them.

A. Nikko N and O


These Nikko don’t have any smaller leaves and are about 18 years old. And Nikko N has the good style and taper of the trunk. And I planted it in a little bit larger bonsai pot. But the whole figure after repotting isn’t very good. I think I have to plant it a little more to the left.

The three-trunked Nikko O has a good style. But since this tree is short, if three trunks will be much thicker in several years, perhaps it will look a little bit clumsy. In this point, this pot is a little bit large. And when repotting it in the same bonsai pot, I changed the planting position so that I might make a wider distance between the left and central trunks. But the style isn’t very good.

The left photo is the front side of Nikko N before pruning. The second one is the front side after repotting. The third one is the front side of Nikko O before pruning. The right one is the front side after repotting.


B. Nikko P and Q


Since this Nikko P is short and has a lot of shoots, the taper of the trunk is good. And since the trunk has some bends and the thick bottom, I planted it a little bit diagonally in a larger rectangular bonsai pot to make the style look better. But the style after repotting isn’t much better than before. Therefore, I have to consider the planting angle and position next time. And I may have to change the bonsai pot.

Though this two-trunked Nikko Q is short, the parent trunk already is so thick that the style isn’t very good now. But I planted it in a little bit larger bonsai pot lest it should lack in water in mid-summer. It may be better than now if I will make the parent trunk much higher.

The left photo is the front side of Nikko P before pruning. The second one is the front side after repotting. The third one is the front side of Nikko Q before pruning. The right one is the front side after repotting.


C. Kegon ans Asuka


Generally speaking, though Kegon is a member of Kozan family, this variety is weaker than other varieties. Though this Kegon is stronger than other trees of Kegon which I have on the shelves, it looks a little bit weak. Therefore, when pruning it, I made it have one tenths of flower buds. And I planted it in a little bit larger rectangular bonsai pot to grow it strongly. The whole figure after repotting isn’t good. Therefore, I have to consider the planting angle and position next time.

This Asuka was so weak that I removed all flower buds. Since it didn’t have a lot of good roots, I repotted it in a terracotta pot because I was afraid that it will die. Though I have another tree of Asuka, it is weak, too. This variety may be weak.

The left photo is the front side of Kegon before pruning. The second one is the front side after repotting. The third one is the front side of Asuka before pruning. The right one is the front side after repotting.



Section 4. Completed satsuki bonsai and others


Since I could repot 37 satsuki trees in the early spring, I would like to show you all of them. Though I had to repot several large completed satsuki bonsai last March, since I sold them on March 6th, I didn’t have to do so. And besides, it didn’t take me a lot of days to repot above 25 small young trees. Though it continued to rain at the end of March, I could finish repotting on April 2nd.

I could repot only 4 completed satsuki bonsai which are classified as middle bonsai. And since others have some defects, they aren’t completed bonsai though they are more than 45 years except Sakurakagami which I bought. I would like to introduce the whole figures of each tree after repotting.

A. Juko, Kozan, Shintaiyo and Togenkyo


I have grown this Juko since I inserted the cutting in the Kanuma soil and introduced the flowers once or twice in my web site. Since they are very beautiful and the style is good, this tree is one of my favourites. I have grown this Kozan from the cutting, too. Since I planted it in the nursery for a long time, the bottom of trunk is so thick that the taper of the trunk is very good. Since it isn’t tall, it is the most popular size of trees that a lot of Japanese people would like to buy now.

I dug out this Shintaiyo from the garden of the house which we had bought in 1977. Since it had a large rotten part in the bottom of trunk, I removed them completely and applied the medicine to the scars. It looked like a man who stood on two legs. I was given this Togenkyo by a satsuki shop owner in 2003. The sapling was so tall that I cut it into two thirds in 2005. Since I had grown it in a terracotta pot for a long time, the trunk didn’t grow thick. But since I planted it in the bonsai pot last March, the style is good now.

The left photo is the front side of Juko after repotting. The height is 46 cm, and the trunk girth is 24 cm. The second one is the front side of Kozan after repotting. The height is 38 cm and the trunk girth is 42 cm. The third one is the front side of Shintaiyo after repotting. The right one is the front side of Togenkyo after repotting.


B. Hikari no tsukasa, Biko, unknown variety and Sakurakagami


I have grown these three trees except the last one since I inserted the cuttings in the Kanuma soil in about 1973. Since these styles and the flowers were good, I lent them to our friends for a week and put them on the tables at our flower show. Since Hikari no tsukasa had a large rotten part at the lower part of trunk, I removed all of it about 20 years ago and applied the medicine to the scar. Though it continues to live, the trunk hasn’t grown thick since then. Though Biko doesn’t have any rotten parts, it has been weak since then, too.

I was given some cuttings of this unknown variety by a friend of mine who didn’t know the variety in about 1973. Since this tree has a late blooming and multicoloured flowers, it is a precious variety on the shelves. I bought the young tree of Sakurakagami for 6,000 yen in 1988. I made the back first branch with grafting in 2002. And the part of the left second and right first branches died near the trunk several years ago. When repotting it on April 2n, 2020, since it had had a long shoot under the right first branch, I grafted it to the right first branch. The height was 68 cm, and the trunk girth was 22 cm. Though I had grown it in a terracotta pot since I had bought it, the trunk didn’t grow thick for more than30 years.

The left photo is the front side of Hikari no tsukasa after repotting. The second one is the front side of Biko after repotting. The third one is the front side of the unknown variety after repotting. The right one is the front side of Sakurakagami after repotting.


C. Sangosai A and B, Shinnyo no tsuki and Daigokuden


Since I introduced the precious figure of Sangosai thrice or more in the web site, it may be remembered. But, since some trunks died, I removed them and divided the rest into two parts when I repotted it in 2016. I planted the two-trunked tree in a middle terracotta pot and the rest in a very large terracotta pot to make them recover the strength.

Originally, I dug out the large rooted satsuki tree from the bank of the tea field of my grandfather in 1972. Since it had been planted by him who had died long before I was born, it may be more than 90 years old. And though it has a lot of deep-petalled flowers, it doesn’t have a lot of tasselled flowers. Now that Sangosai A of the two-trunked tree has a good style, I planted it in the bonsai pot and the large Sangosai B in the same terracotta pot.

I had to repot only two very large trees of Shinnyo no tsuki and Daigokuden which I have grown since I had inserted the cuttings in the Kanuma soil in 1973. Since these trees have seen the changes of a lot of things in the world with me for a long time, I would not like to make them die but both of them have the large rotten parts in the trunks and one or two large branches died. It is because I lent them to some friends or put them on the tables at our satsuki flower show. Since a lot of very thin branches are dying, they look like a man who is covered all over with wounds. Therefore, I removed all flower buds when I pruned them. I hope that they will be able to continue to live till I will stop growing any large satsuki bonsai at the age of 85.

The left photo is the front side of Sangosai A after repotting. The second one is the front side of Sangosai B after repotting. The third one is the front side of Shinnyo no tsuki after repotting. The right one is the front side of Daigokuden.



The summation about repotting satsuki trees in March of 2020


Though I could repot 37 satsuki trees in the early spring of 2020, I had repotted a lot of young satsuki trees after blooming because I hadn’t had any time to do so in March before then. But I repotted 25 small satsuki trees in March and made them have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might see their flowers. But if they will have flowers, it is sure that they will be weaker than when I removed all flower buds after repotting. Therefore, it is a question of choice whether we make them have flowers after repotting or not. Of course, if they didn’t have good roots when we washed the roots after removing the soil, we mustn’t make them have flowers. Some skilful satsuki enthusiasts don’t remove the soil completely and wash the roots in March. And they only trim the trees after repotting and make them have a lot of flower buds. But I think that it is very dangerous to do so.

I repotted four completed satsuki bonsai after washing the roots and made them have one 5ths of flower buds so that I might enjoy their flowers. Since it takes me much more times to make completed satsuki trees have one 5ths of the flower buds than to prune them completely, I didn’t do so till last year. Though I know that it is dangerous to make them have flower buds, since I sold a lot of large satsuki bonsai, I would like to see their flowers. Though I think they are not expensive even if they died, I have to take good care of them.

But I removed all flower buds of 8 trees which were weak when I pruned them after washing the roots. It is because they didn’t have good roots and had some rotten parts or rotten branches. Recently, I give an aqueous solution of HB101 to all trees that I repotted once a week. Though I know that it is very dangerous to give them a lot of fertilisers, I am liable to give a lot of fertilisers to them because I always give a lot of fertiliser to other trees in pots.

Since I didn’t have to repot a lot of very large trees last March, it took me 8 days to repot them. Since I sold 26 satsuki bonsai last March and will sell a lot of them in the early spring of 2021, I think it will take me 5 days or less to do so in March 2021. Though I feel it sad that I will see a lesser number of beautiful satsuki flowers on the shelves year after year, I won’t have to repot a lot of large satsuki bonsai for ever. Since I think that growing satsuki trees and fishing have made me continue to live till now, I have to thank them for it.

Though I have the power to repot a lot of satsuki trees and other plants and take a lot of photos, this renewal of the web site may be the last chance to report the whole works of repotting. As I will lose the trees gradually by selling them, perhaps I will lose the strong pleasure to record the growth of the rest by taking photos. But I like to work in the garden. Last autumn I bought 11 strawberry seedlings. Now that some of them have white fruits, when they will be red, I and my wife will enjoy them. Though all vines of sweet potatoes had had some damages from monkeys, we got a lot of them last year. And I planted the seedlings of green onions, egg plants and pumpkins at the start of April and the vines of sweet potatoes at the end of April.

I thank you for your reading of this web site. Please send me some messages, advices, questions and requests to make me continue to renew it. Thank you.



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