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Field-growing satsuki azaleas at Takahashi Engei

March 6, 2020 by Jonas Dupuich

My recent trip to Japan included some satsuki sightseeing at Takahashi Engei – a large azalea grower in Kanuma City.

Kazuhiro Takahashi showed us around his growing fields which gave us a good look at the stages azaleas go through on their way to becoming bonsai.

Although I didn’t see young trees on the property, I saw acres of land that looked like this.

Field grown azaleas

Azaleas in the field

While most of the trees were unsheltered, some grew under structures that could be covered in summer.

Shelter for field-grown trees

Shade structure

The goal of keeping these trees in the field is to thicken trunks and heal large wounds. It can also help weak trees regain health.

Recently planted azalea

Recently planted azalea surrounded by fresh kanuma

A common next step for the trees is to go into raised beds or large wooden boxes. The tree below was in a long greenhouse with raised beds that extended the length of the building.

Azalea in a raised bed

Satsuki azalea in a raised bed

The benefit of growing trees in raised beds is that it’s easier to work on them without bending over. This isn’t as much of an issue for trees that are in the trunk development stage, but when it’s time to start branch work, it’s nice to have the trees higher up.

I’ll cover the next step in the following post – the initial cleaning after removing trees from the field – and will cut straight to some of the finished bonsai in Takahashi’s display area.

The first tree is in a surprisingly shallow pot.

Shallow pot satsuki

Satsuki azalea in a shallow pot

The tree below is in a much deeper pot. The red wires are being used to pull the outer branches down – a good way to move branches that are too large to bend by coiling wires around the branches.

Guy wires on satsuki

Large satsuki

One of my favorite trees in the garden was a prize-winner from the 31st Satsuki Exhibition held last year.

Prize-winning satsuki

Prize-winning satsuki

Trunk detail

Trunk detail

Apologies for not providing the cultivars of the above trees – will fill that in if I can find the info.

Up next: azaleas fresh from the field at Kobayashi Sangyo.

✕

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Japan, Satsuki

Previous Post: « Onuma’s mini-bonsai growing techniques
Next Post: Massive field-grown satsuki azaleas »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Corey Cannon says

    March 6, 2020 at 4:36 am

    Wow those are amazing! Crazy how they still use the kanuma in the ground like that. I’d like to see some of the steps leading up to that like the steps after cuttings rooted then if wire whips and let them scar? Great posts seeing their techniques and some of their systems. Thanks Jonas!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 6, 2020 at 8:10 am

      Thanks Corey! I have yet to visit a nursery demonstrating the early stages of ground growing or the steps leading up to that – will try to get to one in a future visit as I’d like to see that too!

  2. Gary says

    March 6, 2020 at 4:36 am

    WOW!!!

  3. Mark Copeland says

    March 6, 2020 at 5:33 am

    Such a tease. Give us more!

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 6, 2020 at 8:11 am

      Ha, thanks Mark – will do!

  4. Jeff Aldridge says

    March 6, 2020 at 5:35 am

    This post is a wonderful dose of inspiration for those of us who love Satsuki! Kudos Jonas! Keep those Satsuki pictures coming.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 6, 2020 at 8:11 am

      Thanks, Jeff! Will post a few more photos from the trip plus photos of the new trees when they come in.

  5. Charles Mosse says

    March 6, 2020 at 10:01 am

    Inspiring, yes!! Too bad I live in San Diego, otherwise if in NorCal I would grow them with these photos in mind as motivation. A few people are trying out Satsuki down here with Ok success using kanuma, rainwater, organic fert, and enhancing humidity in the immediate area. One of our members puts the plants on wet ground in the shade on warm/dry days for increased humidity. Helps quite a bit. Sure sould be nice to have “tougher” Satsuki’s.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 6, 2020 at 12:11 pm

      Thanks Charlie! I’m sure some are tougher than others but I don’t have the heat you do to test that out. In the meantime, I always suggest starting small.

  6. Ron Reid says

    March 6, 2020 at 12:07 pm

    How many trees did you buy ?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 6, 2020 at 12:12 pm

      Similar to last year, but the trees are more modest this year.

  7. Guilard says

    March 10, 2020 at 11:07 am

    se son des masters pièces ,merci pour le partage

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      March 10, 2020 at 4:56 pm

      Thanks Guillard!

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