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Adachi’s little trees

April 29, 2014 by Jonas Dupuich

My final stop in Kyushu brought me to Mr. Adachi’s garden. As soon as we arrived, I noticed a small patio out front with some nice deciduous shohin bonsai.

Chojubai

Shohin ‘Chojubai’

They were very interesting.

Chojubai

 Chojubai grown from cutting

Mr. Adachi loves growing small trees. Really loves it. Only recently retired, Adachi spent much of his career waking up at 3 in the morning to water and tend to his trees before work – serious dedication for a hobbyist. Over the years Adachi has developed some great techniques for developing tiny sized trees, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

Deciduous shohin

Deciduous shohin on the front patio

We followed a path along the northern side of the house where a number of flats held Japanese maples, among other varieties.

Japanese maple

Miniature maple grove

Japanese maple

Japanese maples

So far the collection was impressive, but nothing out of the ordinary for a dedicated hobbyist. Then we turned the corner and saw the small space behind the house. Although the yard only extended 15-20′ beyond the house, it was crammed with cuttings.

Small trees

Cuttings in flats

The flats sat on planks suspended by interconnecting pipes several feet above the ground. To get a closer look, we walked along similarly suspended planks as the ground was a ways below. It was a floating garden of tiny trees.

Small trees

Daisaku Nomoto in Adachi’s backyard

Many varieties were represented.

Chojubai

Japanese flowering quince, ‘Chojubai’

Trident maples

Trident maple

Silverberry

Silverberry

Upon turning the next corner we were greeted by another 1,000 little trees.

Small bonsai

Seriously?

Zelkova

Zelkova tied up for winter

Trident maple

Trident maple – note the zip tie technique

Stewartia

Stewartia

There were plenty of varieties I recognized and several others I didn’t. They seemed to sprout up by the hundreds.

Small trees

Deciduous shohin bonsai

All together, Adachi has thousands of little trees. On rare occasion he sells a few, but for the most part he develops them for his own enjoyment.

Chinese quince

Chinese quince

He has a few conifers too – more on these Friday.

 

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Japan

Previous Post: « A final pass through Kokufu 88
Next Post: More from Miyazaki »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mac says

    April 29, 2014 at 6:05 am

    Astounding! Thanks Jonas.

  2. shah786786 says

    April 29, 2014 at 8:19 am

    Hi pal how come he had the zelcovas tied up? Thanks

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      April 29, 2014 at 8:32 am

      Tying zelkovas in winter helps keep the branches lined up without the effort required to wire such tiny branches.

  3. Patricia Tatich says

    April 29, 2014 at 8:46 am

    I noticed that the quince were growing in what appeared as primarily lava….is this his method for developing cuttings? your thoughts…thank you.

  4. mirko says

    April 29, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    Impressive

  5. Jonas Dupuich says

    April 29, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    Hi Patricia – it looks like the quince is planted in his standard soil mix – mostly akadama with some lava and kiryu (a volcanic pumice-like soil). As I didn’t see any fresh cuttings in the garden, I’m not sure what he uses for rooting them, though it could be the same soil.

  6. Zack Clayton says

    April 29, 2014 at 4:19 pm

    I would love to hear Daisaku Nomoto’s thoughts on this in the next post. Mr. Adachi may be a hobbyist in Japan, but anywhere else he would be a serious grower of mame/shohin.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      April 29, 2014 at 8:27 pm

      Hi Zack – my understanding is that Mr. Adachi is as much of a standout hobbyist in Japan as he would be here. Nomoto too is amazed by the numbers of little trees Adachi raises. Throughout the visit he kept turning to me with a big smile as if to say – isn’t this unbelievable? I don’t know if he has other opinions on the topic.

  7. Dave Martin says

    April 30, 2014 at 2:38 am

    Phenominal dedication to his hobby. Thank you so much for posting Jonas.

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