Satsuki and Other Trees in Mack's Garden 78

Renewal Ist April 2024


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Since it was cold in the second half of March, the most popular variety of Someiyoshino isn’t in full bloom in Ise yet. Since the flowering was delayed by a week, perhaps a lot of satsuki trees will begin to have flowers a week later, too. But I was very happy to see a lot of ume flowers in my garden a week earlier.



Being 81 years old, I cannot work hard for a long time in a day. Therefore, since I would like to sell all large satsuki trees, I asked Mr. Yoshii to bring them to his shop. And since I feel that dementia has started, it takes me much more time to renew the web site. Unhappily, since my new personal computer isn’t in a good condition, I have to use the old one to decide the sizes of photos and update the notepads of the web site. But I am happy that I could finish updating it.


Cherry blossoms and repotting in February


We Japanese people would like to see cherry blossoms as soon as possible because they tell us coming of spring and give us enjoying of spring. But we can see the cheery blossoms that Kawazu cherry trees have in February. The variety was found in Shizuoka prefecture about 40 years ago. And a lot of the young trees have been planted in the warm districts.

It is said in Japan that if we repot pine trees in February they never will die. I have grown 17 black pine trees since I sowed the seeds 51 years ago. Their trunks aren’t very thick and they aren’t tall. It is because I haven’t given them a lot of fertilisers lest they should be large.

Chapter 1. The blossoms of Kawazu cherry trees

I and my wife went to the park of Gonbei-no-sato and Togu in the south districts of Mie prefecture with one of my friends by my car to see them. Since we had several warm days at the start of February, we were lucky to be able to see those trees that were in full bloom on 17th. And we went to Kasamatsu in Matsusaka city by my car to see the flowers of Kawazu cherry trees on 28th. They were in full bloom.

Section 1. The cherry blossoms in Gonbei-no-sato park

Though we had been to Gonbei-no-sato park in Kihoku town thrice, we hadn’t seen a lot of flowers in full bloom because I went there before they were in full blooms. Though we went there in the last week of February, it still was very cold and we had very cold and strong winds. But we were very glad to see the beautiful flowers of Kawazu cherry trees in full bloom in the middle of Febrary 2024. Since more than 200 trees lie scattered, they were not gorgeous when we saw them.


Though this park isn’t large, it is good. The cherry tree which you can see on the right photo is the parent tree. After they had taken a lot of cuttings from it, they made a lot of saplings by inserting them in the soil and planted them on the banks of the river, roadsides, by the parking areas and on the various places.



Section 2. The cherry blossoms in Togu in Mimamiise town

Though the flowers of these Kawazu cherry trees are very beautiful, it is very dangerous for us to take a lot of photos because some cars run by us. And we were very sad to hear that a half of these trees will be cut down shortly because they are renovating the narrow national road. You can see the yellow soil on the middle and right photos, which means that this place is the construction site of the national road.


Since the colour of the flowers of Kawazu cherry trees in Togu have darker pink than that in Gonbei-no-sato, the flowers look more beautiful though we can see a lot of green leaves on the left photo. Since these cherry trees don’t have the very cold north and north-west winds in winter, they began to bloom earlier than those in Gonbei-no-sato. Therefore, though the colour of a lot of flowers faded a little, the young tree on the right photo has the colour of the very dark pink.



Section 3. The huge trees in Takihara shrine

On the way home, we went to Takihara shrine to warship the gods, which is one of the Betsugu of Ise grad shrine. It has five large shrines of Betsugu and a lot of small shrines in Mie prefecture. I always am surprised to see a lot of huge trees of cedar and hinoki (Japanese cypress). It is said that one of them is more than 400 years old. They never cut any plant in the sacred areas of Ise grand shrine and its other ones.


　

Section 4. The cherry blossoms in Kasamatsu of Matsusaka city

We went to Kasamatsu in Matsusaka city which is adjacent to Ise city to see the flowers of Kawazu cherry trees on 28th. It took me about 40 minutes to go there by my car. They planted more than 350 young trees on the both banks of the river about 20 years ago. Since this place is near the sea, though the trees on the south and east banks were in full blooms, those on the north and west banks were not so yet because they always have strong cold winds in winter.

Though these cherry blossoms on the left photo were beautiful, I thought that the whole scenery would have been more beautiful if they had been reflected on the water surface clearly without any wind. Since this river bends at right angles, you can see a half number of Kawazu cherry trees on the right photo and the yellow rape blossoms tell us the early spring. And you can see the rice field ready for rice planting on the left part of the right photo, which tell us that our long-awaited spring is coming.


Though these cherry trees are young, if I will be able to see their flowers in 10 years, since a lot of trees on the both banks may touch each other because the width of the river on the left and right photos is narrow, they will be a great spectacle. Since these cherry trees on the middle photo are larger than others and have a great number of flowers, they are very beautiful even now.


This was our first visitation to see them. Sine these trees began to bloom much later than those in Gonbei-no-sato and Togu, we are lucky to see them twice. And we will be able to see a lot of cherry blossoms from the last week of March to the second week of April. Especially, we are going to see more than 1,000 hanging cherry trees which will be in full bloom in Takami-no-sato on about 15th of Aril. I will show a lot of photos here, too.

Chapter 2. Repotting of pine trees in February

I repotted 17 black pine trees, two Japanese white pine trees and a Nishikimatu from 13th to 19th. Since I pruned then at the end of August 2023, it was unnecessary to do so and is much easier to remove the soil from the root balls of pine trees than to do so from those of satsuki trees because I have used the soil which is the mixture of Akadama (50 %) and mountain soil (50%) since about 50 years ago. But it took me a lot of time to remove a lot of moss from the trunks and branches because I couldn’t have done so clearly in 2022 and 2023.

Section 1. Black pine trees

Though I sowed the seeds of black pine trees 51 years ago, the trunks of these trees aren’t very thick. Since I couldn’t move actively because I had left the hospital at the end of March 1971 after staying for 5 months, I didn’t hope that they would grow large. Therefore, I haven’t given them a lot of fertilisers since then.

And after I had pruned them at the end of last August, it continued to be very hot in September. Therefore, they were a little bit weak, but I repotted them in February. It is because I thought the water which I would give would go down through the soil easily if I repotted them because the surface of the soil in the pots was hard.

Part 1. Black pine A

The left photo is the whole figure of the black pine A before repotting. Though it is 50 years old, the trunk isn’t thick and the style isn’t very good. Since it isn’t very strong, you cannot see the long roots which have come from the bottom hole of the pot on the second photo. When 4 years have passed since I repotted it, if it is strong, I can see a lot of long roots there. But it has a lot of good roots on the third photo. Sine it is easy to remove the soil, I can cut the roots short easily on the right photo.


Since it had a lot of moss on the bottom of the trunk, though I removed almost all of them, I washed the roots on the left photo. You can see a lot of good roots on the second photo. The third photo is the front side of this tree after repotting. Since I changed the planting angle, the style isn’t bad. The right photo is the back side.


　

Part 2. Black pine B

Though I had given Black pine B to one of my friends several years ago, since the top had been broken by the strong winds, he brought it to my garden. Therefore, the style isn’t good on the left photo. Though I used the training pot for it, you cannot see the long roots which have come from the bottom hole of the pot on the second photo. It means that this tree isn’t strong. But it has a lot of good roots on the third photo. You can see several thick roots on the right photo.


After cutting a lot of roots short, I washed the roots on the left photo. Since a lot of good roots can be seen on the second photo, it won’t die if I continue to water it. The third photo is the front side of this tree after repotting. The third photo is the front side of this tree after repotting. The right photo is the back side.



Part 3. Black pine C

I have used the rectangular bonsai pot for this Black pine C for a long time. The left photo is the front side of this tree. You cannot see any roots in 2 bottom holes of the pot on the second photo. It means that this pot is worse for the growth of a lot of plants than the round bonsai pots. But you can see a lot of good roots on the third photo. And this tree has several thick roots on the right photo.


After cutting a lot of long roots short, I washed the roots on the left photo. The middle photo is the front side of this tree whose trunk is the thickest of all black pine trees. The style isn’t bad. The right photo is the back side.



Part 4. Black pine D

Black pine D has a good style, whose front side you can see on the left photo. And you cannot see any roots in 5 bottom holes of the pot on the second photo, neither. But it has a lot of good roots on the third photo because the pot is shallow. Though it has a lot of long roots, they aren’t thick on the right photo.


After cutting a lot of long roots short, I washed the roots on the left photo. When you saw the whole figure of the front side of this tree on the middle photo, I think you wondered why the trunk was very thin. And I have wondered why these black pine tree continued to live in the pots for a half century. The right photo is the back side.


　

Part 5. Black pine E, F, G and H

Though I washed the roots of above 4 trees, I didn’t do so concerning other trees. Since the soil was not compacted, it was easy to remove it. After cutting a lot of long roots short and blowing away the dusts and soil by the air compressor, I repotted them. These photos are the front sides of each tree.



Part 6. Black pine I, J, K and L

These photos are the front sides of each tree. Though I sowed a lot of seeds which were taken from the famous pine tree in a small paper bag 51 years ago, a lot of these trees don’t have the same nature. The colours and length of leaves, barks and roots are different from each other. You can understand these facts.



Part 7. Black pine M, N, O and P

These photos are the front sides of each tree. Though these styles aren’t bad, they don’t have any strong impression. It is because I haven’t searched any special skills and technics about pine trees and I hadn’t thought that my main plant to grow was satsuki.



Part 8. Black pine Q, Nishikimatsu, Japanese white pine A and B

Since the thick root of Black pine Q died a long time ago, it isn’t stable after repotting on the left photo. But the style isn’t bad. Therefore, I would like to keep it. Nishikimatsu on the second photo was given me about 30 years ago by one of my friends. Though I have grown it sice then, since I don’t know how to grow this kind of pine, the style isn’t good. Since it has the very strange barks, I am much interested in them. These Japanese white pine trees on the third and right photos were given me about 40 years ago by my brother who had dug them from a mountain. I cannot throw one of them into the compost which were given me even if it were poor.



Section 2. The soil and the trees of my friend

I would like to explain the soil to repot pine trees, cherry trees, Japanese maple trees, wisteria, quince and others. When going to my hometown by my car, I brought some large bags of the mountain soil home till several years ago. But one of my friends drove a small truck there with me and we could shoveled the soil into the bags on the bottom of the slope of the mountain by the road. Therefore, it is suitable for planting pine trees and other mountain trees.

The soil consists of dusts and very small, small, middle and large grains of stones like Kanuma soil. Therefore, the soil is not compacted in the pots but at the same time, it can hold only a small quantity of fertilisers.

Judging from these conditions of the soil, I always make the mixture of the soil which consists of the mountain soil (50 %) and small grains (25%) and middle grains (25%) of Akadam on the left photo.

He asked to me to repot his black pine tree on 15th February. Though it is very weak, the style is interesting on the second photo. And he asked me to plant a small satsuki tree in the hole of the large stone. Since the hole isn’t large, he cannot grow it large.






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