It is very miserable that Rosia has invaded the Ukraine and killed a lot of people. I am very sorry that the United nations cannot stop the outrage. What was it founded for? Is Putin a kind of Hitler or a crazy man? And the coronavirus has been afflicting Ukrainian people, too. I only can pray that they will be acle to have their peaceful daily lives as soon as possible.
I am very sorry that I could not renew the web site at the start of February. I had to cut the trees and bamboos on the very steep slope of the small mountain before our garden once per four years in December and January lest they should make a large space of shadow on the garden from the middle autumn to the middle spring. And now that I am 79 years old, I cannot work all day. It is the very hard working to me. Therefore, I finished cutting them in middle January.
Since the concrete wall is higher than the level of the field, when we had an extreme lot of rain last summer, it was like a pool for a while. Since I thought it gave large damages to the sweet potatoes, I dug the soils very deeply (more than 70 cm) and threw a lot of compost, weeds and other things. But I had to carry a lot of soils in the old bags of fertilisers from other fields because the level of the field was still lower than it. It took me two weeks to do so.
It was so much colder in January and February than always that I was very lucky. I would begin to prune a lot of satsuki trees in the nursery at the start of January and finish it at the end of February, but I began to do so at the start of February and finished it on 17th of March. Since Ume tree began to have flowers in our garden two weeks later than last year, the last tree of Jukokan that I pruned didn’t have any new sprouts yet.
Though it was very cold last winter, I didn’t see any snow on the satsuki trees in our garden. This is my first experience snce we began to live here in Ise in 1977. But I saw often the thick frost on the satsuki bonsai on the shelves. Though I didn’t trim this Kasugano before winter, it looks beautiful on the left photo which was taken on 9th of January. The second photo is Kobai (the red ume flowers) which we Japanese call this tree. Though the colour is pink (momo-iro, colour of momo), we Japanese distinguish the calling of Ume trees which have the pink flowers from that of Momo (peach) which have pink flowers: Ume trees have been called Kobai (which has pink flowers) and Hakubai (which has white flowers) since the old time though some of them have red flowers. Though it began to have flowers two weeks later, one of my cherry trees in the pot began to have flowers on 24th and a lot of cherry trees of Someiyoshino (the most popular variety) were in full bloom in Ise on 30th as usual because it was very warm in March. But it isn't so yet on the right photo.
Workings in the Garden in Winter
Recently it is very cold in Ise city in January and February though it is said that the earth is warming. But it is much warmer than usually in December. I am unhappy to have these weather. Though I have to prune pine trees in the pots and satsuki trees in the nursery in winter, since almost all of satsuki trees have a lot of green leaves in middle December yet, I cannot prune them before more than half of them turn the colours to red and yellow. Therefore, I cut the very long shoots very short on 23rd of January to get used to them in the cold. And I began to prune them on 1st of February. And when I have a lot of time to spare at the end of December, I can prune the pine trees so that I may put one of them on the tokonoma in the new year holidays. We Japanese have used “pine, bamboo and ume” (an auspicious grouping) for Kadomatu (New Year's decoration in front of each house) and made the pot in which small pine tree, bamboo and ume tree were planted since long years ago.
Section 1. Pruning the satsuki trees in the nursery
It took me one and a half months to prune the satsuki trees in the nursery. Since I already had sold a lot of trees, I had to finish it much earlier. I wouldn’t like to do so in the early morning because the black sheets on the soil were wet with the frost and I cannot work all days now. But I had to work from 8:30 to 17:30 on Saturdays and Sundays in March because it was so warm that I thought some trees would begin to have a lot of new sprouts. And we had to repot the bulbs of fringed orchids on 14th and 15th because I had hoped to do so as soon as possible lest we should give any damages to the new sprouts.
And I gave the fertilisers to all satsuki trees in the pots and the nursery on 20th and 21st though I didn’t do so to those that I have to repot. Though I had to repot a considerable number of large satsuki trees in the pots in March which is the best season to repot them, since I had to renew the web site, I will finish repotting in the middle of April.
Part 1. The nursery in winter
You can see all trees in the nursery on the left photo which was taken on 9th of January. Though they have thick frost on the leaves, they don’t look like trees in winter because they have a lot of leaves. This small Korin A is very beautiful because it has thick frost on a lot of green leaves on the middle photo. And you can see only some brown leaves. This is a strange aspect in the natural world. This Nikko A on the right photo has the thickest trunk (57 cm) in the nursery. It is unnatural that you can see a lot of yellow and brown leaves on the branches yet though a considerable number of brown leaves fell from the branches on the black sheet.
Since all trees in the nursery had a very strange weather, almost all of them didn’t have a lot of extremely long new shoots. And two of them died. Though the left photo is Nikko B which has the second thickest trunk (55 cm), it doesn’t have a lot of extremely long shoots. But it still has a lot of yellow leaves, too. This Hikorin still has a lot of green leaves on the middle photo though it has several brown leaves. This is my first experience since I began to grow satsuki trees in 1972. I thought this was a great problem to the family of Korin because the cycle of growth changed greatly. This middle class of Nikko C on the right photo was transplanted from the pot to the nursery some years ago. Therefore, it doesn’t have a lot of very long shoots and the spring leaves turned to yellow or already fell down from the branches.
Part 2. The satsuki trees before pruning
I had taken these photos on 14th of January before I cut extremely long shoots of the family of Korin short. It is because I thought I had to get used to them in the cold. The left photo is the very large Hakurin A whose figure looks like that in the early November. I thought that if I pruned it drastically at that time the severe cold would give it a great damage. The middle photo is the very large Korin B which doesn’t have a lot of extremely long shoots. It had very much more last year. The right photo is the large Hakurin B whose figure looks like that of Korin B. But all of them have a lot of new shoots which have green leaves.
This small Korin A on the left photo was transplanted from the pot to here two years ago after I had dug out a lot of satsuki trees and sold them. Since it was small, I watered it every day in summer. Therefore, its spring leaves are still green though it had several brown leaves. But it doesn’t have any leaves whose ends are brown. It means that it is strong and healthy. The middle photo is the very large Hikari-no-tsukasa which has still yellow and brown leaves. It is unnatural. But you can see Kegon on the right photo whose brown leaves already fell down from the shoots. I think that it is because it is one of weak varieties.
Part 3. Giving fertilisers after pruning
I finished pruning the satsuki trees in the nursery on 17th of March and gave two kinds of fertilisers to them on 21st. It rained on 18th and I gave fertilisers to the pine trees after pruning them on 19th and 20th. And I gave fertilisers to all satsuki trees in the pots on 20th and 21st. I gave a lot of fertilisers around the trees in the nursery. But they are the perfect organic though one of them contains some necessary kinds of trace elements. Therefore, they are very useful: even if I gave a lot of them to satsuki trees in the nursery, they would give a damage to them. You can see the empty spaces on the black sheets on the right photo because I didn’t plant any trees there where I had dug out satsuki trees to sell. These photos were taken on 21st.
Part 4. The satsuki trees after pruning
I would like to show you the photos of the satsuki trees which I pruned drastically in February and March after giving fertilisers to them and spreading the black sheets on the soil. The left photo is Nikko A which has the thickest trunk in the nursery. Since the height is much lower and doesn’t have any large scars on the trunk, I hope that I will be able to sell it expensively. Though Nikko B on the middle photo has a very thick trunk, the bottom of the trunk is a little bit wider. But it has a good style. Nikko C on the right photo doesn’t have a very good nebari. But the taper of this tree is very good though the trunk isn’t very thick.
These Hakurin A, B and C are very strong. But they didn’t have a lot of very long hoots last year. Since the family of Korin in the nursery began to have yellow leaves on them, I cut them short on 23rd of January to make the trunk and branches have the winds. Though Hakurin A on the left photo has the very thick trunk and very good taper, since the branches are very thick, too, it isn’t a very good material for satsuki bonsai. Though Hakurin B and C on the middle and right photos don’t have very thick branches, since the trunks aren’t very thick and the tapers of the trunks aren’t very good, they aren’t very good materials as satsuki bonsai.
I had been very busy from 1996 to 2006 in writing a lot of manuscripts about Hamlet and publishing a book so that I might get the title of doctor of letters by it and retired from the chairman of Ise satsuki society in 1996. And I couldn’t have cut the thick branches short or removed them for those 10 years though I didn’t stopped watering them, giving them fertilisers, spraying agrochemicals over them and pruning them in winter. After retiring from Kogakkan University at the age of 64, since I had removed a lot of very large branches, a lot of large trees had a lot of large scars. Therefore, since about half of the trees in the nursery have a lot of very thick branches or large scars, I think their prices are very cheap now. But I am very happy to have got the title in 2007, to have several good materials as satsuki bonsai and to be able to work in the garden now.
This Korin A on the left photo is so small that it doesn’t have a thick trunk. And it is 8 years old. Since I transplanted it from a terracotta pot to here with other 5 trees, I had to water them every day in summer. I think they will begin to grow rapidly in 3 years and I won’t sell them as long as I live. Though Korin B on the middle photo has the very thick trunk, it has a very big scar on the bottom of the trunk. Though the taper and style of the trunk are good, I think the big scar won’t be cured perfectly for ever. Though Hikorin on the right photo has the very thick trunk, since it has some very thick branches and the taper and style of the trunk are not very good, it won’t be a very good satsuki bonsai in future. If you didn’t plant a young satsuki tree in the nursery whose trunk had strong winds, when it grows very thick, it will have as straight trunk as this Hikorin has. I didn’t know it when I planted a lot of young satsuki trees in the nursery about 30 years ago.
The left photo is Hikari-no-Tsukasa which has the very thick trunk and whose height is low. The taper of the trunk is very good and the necessary branches aren’t very thick. It looks like it has all conditions of good satsuki bonsai. But it is a fact that it has a large knot on the front bottom of the trunk. I cannot decide to remove it or not. The second photo is Kegon which isn’t very strong. It hasn’t had a lot of very long shoots since some years ago. But I haven’t found the reason. Though the right photo is Kinsai whose trunk is very thick, it is weak, too. Other 5 trees of large Kinsai in the nursery are the same. Therefore, I didn’t prune them drastically. I think that it is because I haven’t replanted them since I had planted them 30 years ago though they grew large. Perhaps since their roots are clogged each other in the soil in front of them, I think they cannot suck up the water and the fertilisers enough to grow prosperously. It is because the variety of Kinsai will grow prosperously if we give a lot of water and fertilisers.
The left photo is Nikko-no-hoshi whose trunk is very thick. But the right first branch is so thick that I cannot remove it now. Therefore, though the taper of the trunk is very good, the whole figure isn’t very good. The middle photo is Shuho-no-hikari which is not hight and doesn’t have the thick trunk though it is about 43 years old. After having planted it in the terracotta pot for 13 years, I had planted it in the nursery and transplanted it here two years ago. Kozan on the right photo has the same condition as this Shuho-no-hikari has. After a young tree had been planted in a pot for a long time, even if it were transplanted into the nursery, it is a fact that the trunk wouldn’t grow much thicker.
Section 2. Pruning black pine trees in March
Though I have to prune the satsuki trees in the nursery in winter, I have to prune the pine trees in winter, too. But I couldn’t do so. And I pruned them on 19th and 20th of March though I couldn’t restyle them with wires. I was lucky because the ume trees in my garden began to have the flowers two weeks later. Therefore, I thought that my pruning of them had no problems.
When I took their photos, I am sorry that I couldn’t wash the pots. It is because it takes me two days to take their photos after washing and drying the pots. And the working is heavy to me now. These black pines are 49 years old because I sowed the seeds in March 1973. Since the photos which were taken after important workings about trees are the records of their growth, I have kept them in my personal computer and USB since I retired from Kogakkan University in 2007. These photos were taken on 20th of March.
Part 1. Black pine tree A and B
I would like to show you the photos of Black pine tree A and B before and after pruning. Though I didn’t remove the moss from the trunks and branches cleanly, since I removed brown leaves completely, they have the clear styles. Though they are 49 years old, since I haven’t given them a lot of fertilisers, the trunks aren’t thick. But I could keep the small styles for a long time.
Part 2. Black pine tree C and D
The style of Black pine tree C isn’t very good. I have to think about the angle of the trunk when repotting it next time. Since the leaves of Black pine tree D are a little bit soft, the whole figure doesn’t look beautiful.
Part 3. Black pine tree E and F
The styles of Black pine E and F aren’t very good, but since they have been planted in the pots for about a half century, they look like black pine bonsai. Yes, bonsai needs a history of long life.
Part 4. Black pine tree G and Nishikimatsu
Black pine tree G has the natural good style because I haven’t grown it large. It is very difficult to keep the small style of black pine. If we don’t change the young thick branches to the thin young ones, they will grow large. This Nishikimatu was given about 30 years ago. Though I have tried to keep the style since then, since a few branches often died and the roots aren’t strong, it is difficult to decide the front side of this tree.
Part 5. Black pine tree H, I, J and K
These photos are the front sides of each black pine tree after pruning. The styles of Black pine H and I are interesting and the tapers of the trunks are good. They are my favourite trees. But the styles of Black pine tree J and K are common and we can see as same styles of black pine trees in the forests as these trees have: they are natural.
Part 6. Black pine tree L, M, N and O
Though I have tried to make Black pine tree L and M have straight trunks for a long time, they don’t have them now. Black pine tree N has the figure which we can see on the field and forest. The style of Black pine O is so strange that I cannot restyle it.
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