Mastering Satsuki Azalea Bonsai Form: Pruning and Wiring Techniques

Looking to learn about Satsuki azaleas and how to maximize their aesthetic quality beyond just their flowering cycle? In this informative stream, we dive into the often-overlooked topic of design and pruning techniques for Satsuki azaleas during non-flowering seasons. You'll discover the nuanced repotting needs and behavior of these stunning trees, and learn how to use wiring practices to shape and elevate them as bonsai subjects. With our expert guidance, you'll build your skills and take your Satsuki azalea gardening to the next level.

[@nicholaszulinski4727]

Thank you! This is the most efficient, practical, and simplistically direct video tutorial on caring for and cultivating azalea bonsai I've seen yet.

[@Jsebs]

😂 ok as I was looking at my Azaleas blooming, I thought about looking up for some videos on KZbin, just to be on point for my aftercare… And here a go, a Mirai vid on Azaleas has been posted 2hrs ago! That’s definitely a Great Day! Thanks Mirai

[@jessbordeaux9845]

You're making a tiny magical tree. I adore nothing more than seeing a hollow in a tree in nature while walking through woods. Once you realize some living being can make it a warm and comfy home. 😌💓✌️☯️

[@christiansierra9594]

Thank God, I needed this video, thank you Ryan for all the useful information.

[@jeffhurst4744]

Perfect in presentation and step by step what the goal is for a better designed Satsuki Azalea. Thank you. Now I can more confidently address ours.

[@Notaprohobbyist]

I am currently growing my azalea in my grow tent with Chinese elms, ficus, and trident maple makes my life so easy with bonsai

[@getintothewildwithjeffruma8777]

This was an absolute amazing demonstration. I look forward to watching it develop. You got my sub👍

[@vancityexe]

Wow very informative video. I'll be sure to watch it a few times as I just got my Satsuki Azalea a few days ago! Check out the difference at 8:10 (I thought, it looks good) and 45:52 (WOW, It looks great!)

[@Prometheus4096]

Highly hybridized varieties of satsuki are generally weaker because the Japanese do not put hard selection criteria on them for durability. The drive of producing new varieties is mostly for the flower towers and specific flower patterns. In the west when we breed azaleas for landscaping, we would trial grow them under somewhat tough, but realistic, garden conditions. And after 10 years, the best seedling out of 50 or 100 would be selected. While the newest satuski varieties are usually grown in kanuma soil, inside a greenhouse, and then rushed to the competition to try to win the new cultivar award. Which is generally a competition on flower patterns, colour, or shape. And the newer varieties are generally smaller flowering, though there are many exceptions.

[@wardm4]

So good! Perfect timing. I was looking at mine and wondering what on Earth I should be doing. I have no problem coming up with a plan for my other trees (whether I execute it is another story).

[@LoveBonsai902]

You give us so much learned knowledge, Thankyou so much. I need to watch this several times!!

[@wriv819]

You mean so much boloney😅all he did was a little trim and basic wire. Satsukis are the easiest shrubs to take care 😅 that tree he is using he probably paid a couple of hundreds from a friend 😂

[@jamiesolomons4965]

Fantastic work and amazing information Thankyou , love my Azalea and love your videos

[@michelangelobonsai]

Great Balance👍

[@andreasleiker262]

Nice work ! Nice Sazki Azalea ;)

[@Prometheus4096]

I believe Ryan means ukeeda 受け枝 when he says 'kaishieda'. And 'defining branch' means kikieda 効き枝 or sashieda 差し枝.

[@FaridSultonik]

Bonsai azalea...nice..

[@one_three_eight]

Thanks!!!

[@SirSpinser]

Nice Knipex! I have the same ones, and quite a few more. They are EXCELLENT pliers.

[@mirkonicosiavinci8972]

❤

[@brucedeacon28]

👍👌👌🙂

[@colelynch]

Hi Ryan et al Bravo. Much respect for your genuine hard earned knowledge & skill Could you direct me to any of your videos that feature or share info on Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia Glyptorides Thingameebobs) Many thanks Cole (UK)

[@victortaboada2058]

Quick question...can you graft satsuki azalea?

[@rubinchand462]

My satsuki azela loses its leaves in winter ?

[@cartilagehead6326]

Anybody know a good US satsuki raw material nursery? I’ve seen a few at Mahoney’s in MA, but they’re very much not cheap there. A few years ago Lowe’s of all places had two lines and I bought like ten of them, half and half, and I think maybe five or six are gone at this point, and the ones I have left are hanging on. They’re extremely intolerant compared to US-developed hybrids, that’s for sure. Would be nice to see more master-level work done with old American Azaleas now that there should be 20-40 year old exemplars of some of the better midcentury cultivars out there in people’s yards.

[@mandrews93]

Nuccio's Nursery in Los Angeles has many and is unfortunately closing at some point in the near future. I've also gotten a few good ones from Matsuda's in Sacramento.

[@choux1982]

Thanks maybe subscribe in French for future 🙏

[@sushiyamaster989]

You must have eaten a breakfast burrito before you filmed this. Awesome video jokes aside.

[@corneliusbartholemew6725]

Quick bonsai nerd question.....or perhaps even a Japanese culture question..... does Ryan or anyone who has any proficiency in Japanese know why "SAT-SUE-KEE" is pronounced more correctly as "SAT-SKI"? The reason I find it interesting is because I haven't seen that sort of abbreviated pronunciation with other similar Japanese words. It would lead someone who is unfamiliar with azalea bonsai to think that maybe there was a Polish influence somewhere😂.

[@C33Fernandez]

I don't speak Japanese but I think the Japanese language doesn't typically place emphasis on any one syllable. Every sound is to be equal in emphasis as far as I know. Due to the actual sounds, some syllables are softer and quicker to enunciate than others: "su" is easier to say than "sat" and "ki" with the mouth, so it sounds like it is non-existant when spoken quickly. It is spoken as it is anglicised - 'satsuki' - not necessarily with any assumed emphasis, such as "sue" or "soo". If you asked a Japanese speaker to speak slower, I think you would hear those softer syllables.

[@richardwalters9127]

Actually, Japanese can sound harsh precisely because of the heavy dynamic emphasis on certain syllables. Just go back and listen to the y0’s black and white samurai movies. The answer to Cornelius’s question is that the Japanese frequently use contractions, as do we. ‘Saht-ski” in lieu of ‘sat-sue-ki’ is the functional equivalent of ‘aren’t’ in place of ‘are not’. Japanese is one of those languages in which context and emphasis can wildly vary the meaning of a word. Most commonly, the word transliterates to ‘fifth moon’, and is the colloquial word for the month of May-the fifth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, which is when most Japanese azaleas [in Japan] are in bloom. I have a tree in my collection called “kojo no tsuki”; ‘Kojo’ being an archaic word for ‘castle’, the connector ‘no’ essentially meaning ‘of’ or ‘over’. As westerners who think left to right, that would clumsily transliterate to ‘castle of/over moon’. Looking at it the other way, it becomes ‘moon over castle’, or more fully understood, “moonlight over the ruined castle”. Really beautiful blossoms.

[@C33Fernandez]

@@richardwalters9127 Hmm I wasn't really talking about the emphasis in the context of expression, but the actual literal language. The contraction of the words "are" and "not" form an entirely new word: "aren't". This does not apply to the pronunciation of "satsuki" as the word doesn't change, nor it's meaning - it is not a contraction. A more analoguous comparison to our language would be, for example, how we (in the UK) would typically say "Worcester" as "wuster", or "Peterborough" as "Peter-bruh". The softer syllables are skipped over, though the word is not changed, nor contracted. Formally, it may be written in an abbreviated form, but they are not contractions constituting a new word. I did some reading. Rather than "emphasis", I ought to have referred to the amount of "stress". Other than the technical terminology, I was not incorrect: www.yorku.ca/earmstro/arigato/page1/page1.html#:~:text=red%E2%80%9D%20V%E3%83%BBCV-,Stress,on%20the%20%E2%80%9Cport%E2%80%9D%20syllable. So, they have emphasis, but it is not considered emphasis or stress as in our language, but intonation or pitch, and only two pitches, high and low. As for your comments about context, that is correct, though not the subject of the question. Regardless, as the language is highly context dependent, the intonation or emphasis is typically overriden by the context and so is not as important. Hope this helps!

[@Prometheus4096]

Because in Japan many tsu are pronounced as ts'. When using the International Phonetic Alphabet system, it is [sa̠t͡sɨki], so using a t͡sɨ. Which is a alveolar ejective affricate. You kinda have it backwards. Japanese language has sounds. Only later, they invent an alphabet for it. So we have the sound, then the Japanese came up with the character つ (or ツ as 'satsuki' is often written in katakana). And only then westerners come along and try to figure out how to romanize the Japanese language. They selected the three letters 'tsu' for つ / ツ. And that of course makes you ask the logical question about what happened to the 'u'. This is for many words in Japanese that contain the tsu/つ/ツ. I have heard that there are local dialects where they would pronounce 'tsu' rather than 'ts', but I have never heard a native Japanese speaker pronounce 'satuski' that way.

[@Prometheus4096]

@@richardwalters9127 Satsuki does not actually translate to 'fifth moon'. This is a bit of a myth. The month May would literally mean 'fifth moon' in Japan. But the kanji for satsuki are 皐月, not 五月. Today, in the modern calendar in Japanese 'May' is '5月'. In their old traditional lunar calendar, May is '五月'. However, the old name for the fifth month in their lunar calendar is '皐月'. And what does 皐 mean? It comes from 早苗 sanae, which means 'rice seedling'. 皐月 actually means 'month of rice seedling planting'. So the month is named after what they do in that month, namely planting rice seedling of early rice varieties. And they named the azalea after this month. So 'fifth moon' is really not a very correct interpretation. Now the kanji 皐 also has it's own meaning, which is unrelated to satsuki azaleas, making it quite confusing.

[@jerry8405]

my 10 year old "tree" looks tiny in comparison

[@adwwdawad]

I am concerned this Satsuki was pruned too heavily in too short time.

[@stottpie]

I have so many Satsuki bonsai and all of them scare me to death. They will just randomly die if you look at them wrong.

[@Chris-oq6kn]

Mine too i have 1 from japan and not even close to this size and it does not handle winters well where i am. Think its on the road to death and these trees arnt cheap at all. They are extremely delicate especially the root system

[@Prometheus4096]

No, they won't.

[@wriv819]

Wow he pronounces the Japanese way lol

[@LessTalkMoreDelicious]

Dang… that thing thick 😳 (Here’s comes the jokes…)

[@ashwindannenburg6283]

Lol ,that’s looks terrible. Thanks!

[@wriv819]

Huuuuuhhhuu he pronounce the right way Satsuki 😂