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.
Shohin ‘Chojubai’
They were very interesting.
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 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.
Miniature maple grove
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.
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.
Daisaku Nomoto in Adachi’s backyard
Many varieties were represented.
Japanese flowering quince, ‘Chojubai’
Trident maple
Silverberry
Upon turning the next corner we were greeted by another 1,000 little trees.
Seriously?
Zelkova tied up for winter
Trident maple – note the zip tie technique
Stewartia
There were plenty of varieties I recognized and several others I didn’t. They seemed to sprout up by the hundreds.
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
He has a few conifers too – more on these Friday.
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Mac says
Astounding! Thanks Jonas.
shah786786 says
Hi pal how come he had the zelcovas tied up? Thanks
Jonas Dupuich says
Tying zelkovas in winter helps keep the branches lined up without the effort required to wire such tiny branches.
Patricia Tatich says
I noticed that the quince were growing in what appeared as primarily lava….is this his method for developing cuttings? your thoughts…thank you.
bonsai eejit says
Reblogged this on Bonsai Eejit.
mirko says
Impressive
Jonas Dupuich says
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.
Zack Clayton says
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
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.
Dave Martin says
Phenominal dedication to his hobby. Thank you so much for posting Jonas.
francescobanfi says
Reblogged this on Le mie esperienze and commented:
Un’incredibile e invidiabile collezione!