Best time and how much to cut for initial trim on Satsuki Azalea?

[AcerAddict]

I just bought a 'Joga' Satsuki Azalea from Wilson Brothers Gardens in Georgia. It's in a 3-gallon nursery pot at the moment. I would like to start training it for bonsai, but it's currently just the typical "clump of branches" status as you find them in nurseries. Pictures below. Do I just pick out the thickest existing branch(es) and keep those, while trimming away the rest? Is there a best time of year to do such significant cutting on Satsukis? Should I tie several of the central branches together and let them fuse into a thicker "trunk" over time?

I have two "Gumpo Pink" Satsukis already, but I got to hand-pick those from a local nursery and they both already had a central trunk going.

Wilson Bros. website has a pic of what they can look like when trained for bonsai (third pic attached) and they produce some gorgeous flowers.

 

[leatherback]

Find the main rootspread. Decide upon a trunkline. And then remove the rest, in short. This is work for early spring. FOr this year, just let it be.

Decide whether you need a thicker trunk, as more foliage = more trunk

 

[AcerAddict]

Find the main rootspread. Decide upon a trunkline. And then remove the rest, in short. This is work for early spring. FOr this year, just let it be.

Decide whether you need a thicker trunk, as more foliage = more trunk

Is there any benefit to planting it in the ground right now and then after trimming it up next spring to pick my trunk, letting it go nuts for a few years? I know plants will always have faster growth in the ground than in a pot.

 

[leatherback]

ground will get you a lot more trunk a lot faster. Assuming you have one that is frost resistent enough. But 8a should normally be OK

 

[AcerAddict]

ground will get you a lot more trunk a lot faster. Assuming you have one that is frost resistent enough. But 8a should normally be OK

Sounds good. We rarely get below freezing here thankfully. Wilson Bros. says the Joga is hardy from USDA zone 6a to 9a, so I think it'll be fine.

 

[Glaucus]

Will be hard to grow this out into a single fat tapered trunk anytime soon. I have never seen anything that indicates that allowing them to fuse by growing them out a lot would actually work.
Basic principles say that indeed they will fuse eventually and become a single trunk. However, not sure if such a trunk would be of much value, yes or no. It may be. It may also be very reverse tapered.
Anyway, possibly such a trunk would have value since any tree or shrub field-grown with the purpose to become a bonsai would have value, mostly because of age and hopefully also some character.
But, it will take at least 15 years to get at least some results.

 

[Paradox]

Yea definitely a long term project if you want a single trunk.

Not sure but maybe a clump would be a better option?

 

[Pitoon]

I just bought a 'Joga' Satsuki Azalea from Wilson Brothers Gardens in Georgia. It's in a 3-gallon nursery pot at the moment. I would like to start training it for bonsai, but it's currently just the typical "clump of branches" status as you find them in nurseries. Pictures below. Do I just pick out the thickest existing branch(es) and keep those, while trimming away the rest? Is there a best time of year to do such significant cutting on Satsukis? Should I tie several of the central branches together and let them fuse into a thicker "trunk" over time?

I have two "Gumpo Pink" Satsukis already, but I got to hand-pick those from a local nursery and they both already had a central trunk going.

Wilson Bros. website has a pic of what they can look like when trained for bonsai (third pic attached) and they produce some gorgeous flowers.

I am willing to bet that the bonsai in your third pic was started as a single whip, a completely different growing style than say a clump.

The problem I see with your azalea is that the energy has been distributed between all those branches. I don't see not one dominating trunk. If I saw this azalea at the nursery I would have passed on it unless I wanted to take cuttings.

You can take your lemon and make lemonade by taking a bunch of larger cuttings to start from scratch but you'll be in it for the long haul.

 

[AcerAddict]

I am willing to bet that the bonsai in your third pic was started as a single whip, a completely different growing style than say a clump.

The problem I see with your azalea is that the energy has been distributed between all those branches. I don't see not one dominating trunk. If I saw this azalea at the nursery I would have passed on it unless I wanted to take cuttings.

You can take your lemon and make lemonade by taking a bunch of larger cuttings to start from scratch but you'll be in it for the long haul.

I really wish I could have chosen the "pick of the litter" with this one like I did with my Gumpo Satsukis. Worst case scenario is this one ends up in a pot on our front porch and just makes gorgeous flowers the rest of its life.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Joga is has rather largish, 2.5-3” really nice flowers. Normally that would call for a medium large style.

But first things first. Initial steps. It‘s really hard to see what’s really inside the barrier of peripheral branches. My first impression is there are multiple small azaleas planted within the pot…. Or its only one tree and a couple years down the line on it was planted deeper in the soil…. Likely the former.

That’s going to be really important to find out. Gently down in the soil around the base of the tree to discover what’s up. If you are lucky its one trunk. If so, cut away all the thinner branches off the trunk and seal, then wait for spring to root wash and repot. Please seal all cuts.

If not that’s a problem. The multi trunk problem can be solved by waterwashing the roots next spring and cutting the trunks down to one….or water washing the roots next spring and extricating each root mass. I’ve done both. Each has its own issues.

In the multi tree scenario one always ends up with either one small azalea, or 2-4 small azaleas. The porch sounds more appropriate. In this case its better to spend a very few bucks and get a decent starter tree.

If this is the case Riverbend Gardens has some trunk styled starter trees from whips for 12.00 each. Then one has many styling options. I’d recommend the Chinsan, Lucky Charm and Mangetsu.

Chinsan is many folks very most favorite starter satsuki bonsai .

Looking forward to hearing how things turn out!

cheers
DSD sends

 

[AcerAddict]

Thanks DSD. Lots of helpful suggestions in there. I'll dig into the soil some this afternoon and see what I've got to work with. As expected, I've had hit-or-miss luck when ordering material blind from the Internet. It's easy to get drawn in by the relatively affordable prices for certain species, but then you end up with something that's not really suitable for bonsai. I guess ultimately it's smarter to spend money on stuff I can buy either in-person, or from a "what you see is what you get" type of Internet seller.

I have much better looking bases on the Gumpo Satsukis that I hand-picked locally.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Thanks DSD. Lots of helpful suggestions in there. I'll dig into the soil some this afternoon and see what I've got to work with. As expected, I've had hit-or-miss luck when ordering material blind from the Internet. It's easy to get drawn in by the relatively affordable prices for certain species, but then you end up with something that's not really suitable for bonsai. I guess ultimately it's smarter to spend money on stuff I can buy either in-person, or from a "what you see is what you get" type of Internet seller.

Certainly your choice.

I’ve fought to find decent nursery stock with up here for years to no avail since the nurseries started jamming multiple trunks in one pot. Presently all I use nursery stock for is landscape material.

I’ve found three US sources suitable for growing out styling and creating azalea bonsai

I’ve purchased at least a dozen different azaleas from Wayne at Riverbend and each was suitable as the basis for growing out and styling into decent a form without cutting severe hacking. Here’s two I purchased last year, rootwashed and styled this year. Kongo no Hikari and Shiryu no Hikari



Another very reputable seller that sells inexpensive robust, quality single trunked nursery stock and expert shippers is Nuccios, ask for Jim. There are at least fifty of their azaleas in pots here. Being nursery stock, strategic cutback will need to be done. Here’s two purchased in the past couple years. Nuccios Plum Purty and Shinnyo no Hirari.



The last Azalea Hills Gardens and Nursery, owned by Ronnie Palmer, sells 3rd year liners. These can be smaller, but are easy to work with and experiment on. Presently his liners are running 3.50 each. 2nd year here. Mizuho no Kagami and Kenbishi.

I have much better looking bases on the Gumpo Satsukis that I hand-picked locally.

Gnarly !

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Carol 83]

As expected, I've had hit-or-miss luck when ordering material blind from the Internet. It's easy to get drawn in by the relatively affordable prices for certain species, but then you end up with something that's not really suitable for bonsai.

Try Nuccios. They have really nice healthy plants and are great people.