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Fall clean-up on shohin satsuki azalea

October 29, 2019 by Jonas Dupuich

Fall is a good time to thin satsuki azaleas that filled in over summer.

Satsuki azalea

Shohin satsuki azalea – ‘Hanabin’

Doing this work lets light into the tree’s interior and makes it easy to spray for thrips, lace bugs, or any other insects that feed on satsuki foliage.

The work is simple: remove unnecessary shoots, reduce long branches, and remove old leaves. Here’s what this looks like.

Shohin azaleas

Shohin azaleas – the tree on the left has already been thinned

I begin by removing long shoots that I don’t plan to use.

Removing a long shoot

Removing a long shoot

Removing a shoot on the trunk

Removing a shoot on the trunk

Although it’s tempting to reduce long shoots by cutting them in half, I try to avoid this to preserve as many flowers as possible. This is less important for young trees in development – the case for the present azalea – but it’s important for any trees that will be displayed in bloom.

Next, I reduce long branches by cutting back to a secondary branch.

Cutback

Cutting back to a secondary branch

Once the pruning is done, I remove old leaves in crowded areas.

Old satsuki leaf

Removing an old leaf

Here’s the tree after thinning and leaf-plucking.

Satsuki azalea bonsai

Fall clean-up complete – 6.5″

I’ll be leading a workshop on similar trees at next year’s California Shohin Seminar. See below for details.

Registration Now Open for the 2020 Shohin Seminar

The California Shohin Society is hosting their biennial seminar next year from January 31st through February 2nd in Santa Nella, California.

The event is among the top shohin-themed events in the country. Visitors come for the Friday demos, the Saturday workshops, and the Sunday presentations.

I’ll be leading a workshop on satsuki azaleas Saturday afternoon (see photos of the trees) and presenting on shohin development Sunday morning.

To register for the event or sign up for a workshop, visit the 2020 Shohin Seminar website.

✕

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Filed Under: Bonsai Development Tagged With: Satsuki

Previous Post: « Bonsai Development Series #18: Timing cutback to support development goals
Next Post: BDS #19: Encouraging interior buds on young red pines »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Darlene Hutt says

    October 29, 2019 at 6:13 am

    Heading into fall…Boon told me to only remove downward branches because of my location was NE Ohio. What location are you in that you can do a harder thinning of the tree?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      October 29, 2019 at 8:31 am

      Hi Darlene – I’m in Northern California where winter is mild, but the same work can be done where it gets cold if the tree is protected in winter.

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