How to Make a Satsuki Azalea Bonsai? A Full Breakdown of the Latest Methods
Branch Training and Pruning
Branch training and pruning a Satsuki azalea bonsai can regulate the plant's growth condition, making it develop more vigorously and giving the branches and leaves a more graceful form.
If you want to reshape the whole Satsuki azalea or prune it heavily, do it in spring when the plant is growing vigorously. If it is growing weakly but still must be pruned, first apply fertilizer to build it up, and prune only after the Satsuki azalea has recovered its vigor. In addition, you need to repot it and change the soil at the same time, removing old roots, to improve the Satsuki azalea's growing environment as a whole.
Pruning Before Flowering
Before the flowering period, prune the branches and leaves appropriately and remove the leggy long branches and messy branches, so that when the flowering period arrives the whole bonsai will have a neat and natural crown.
Pruning After Flowering
After the flowering period, tidy up the branches and trunk. If new branches are allowed to grow freely, they will upset the original balance, and the parts with many new branches will also thicken, looking very disharmonious. When pruning at this time, keep one or two new branches with good growth direction, and among the side branches remove the vertical and reverse-growing ones, keeping the new branches that grow horizontally. Of course, if you want to thicken the main trunk, the new branches can be left unpruned for the time being. Note that pruning after the flowering period must be completed by mid-June.
Routine Pruning
For ordinary bonsai tidying, you only need to cut off the diseased, weak, messy and leggy branches. This kind of tidying can enhance the balance of growth between the branches and trunk and the root system, and can also increase light penetration and ventilation, which benefits the overall development of the Satsuki azalea.
Wiring
Like other bonsai, Satsuki azalea bonsai also emphasizes structure, layering and density. Generally speaking, a Satsuki azalea bonsai should first be pruned and then shaped perfectly through techniques such as wiring. Note that this flower's branches and trunk are rather fragile, so before wiring, soften the branches slightly with water, then use wire to wire and shape the reserved branches.
Points to Note
No matter how you prune, the Satsuki azalea's body will always keep growing, so every three years you must carry out a large-scale tidying, cutting off surplus flowering branches and compressing the bonsai's size. At the same time, you must also change the soil and repot it for maintenance; only in this way can the Satsuki azalea bonsai remain in good growing condition and keep its charming and elegant form.