So last week I posted my new Satsuki Azaleas and their initial pruning from nursery stock to put them on the path to Bonsai. here
I mentioned leaving far too many branches; leaving some just because they had flower buds on them and I wanted to enjoy the flowers a bit longer (these are my first Satsuki Azaleas after all). Well, this week I decided I really wanted to get these trees growing for the season. Flowers are very resource intensive on the plants and its better to shorten their blooming season if you are looking for maximum growth... and at this point I am. So... the pruners cam out again and all the flowers and flower buds where removed.
one last look at the flowers...
Once the flowers where no longer a concern, some of the 'extra' branches where then easy to identify and remove. I still left far more branches than the tree will have in its final design, but I like to have options, and this tree is still young and I have not fully worked out the design yet.
a few more branches removed
After just a few more days (9 days from the initial pruning), the tree is happily back budding! Tiny green buds are forming all along the branches. This is exactly what I wanted. These buds will form leaves, and eventually new branches. This will allow me to cut down the long straight branches the tree currently has, and start to design more flow into the branches. It will also allow me to bring the foliage closer in to the main trunk and get the scale of the tree right for the size of its trunk.
Im super excited to see such prolific back budding so quickly. I think I'm really going to enjoy working with these Azalias
