Peach care service after Tet overloaded, many gardeners have to refuse customers

After Tet, gardeners welcome peach "corpses" to plant and care for customers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

During the Tet peach blossom season of Quy Mao, Mr. Nguyen Trong Tien (Kim Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) sold 100 bonsai peach trees to the market, earning more than half a billion VND. Mr. Tien said that with these peach trees, people buy them for Tet, and after the full moon, they bring them back to the garden to hire a gardener to take care of them. My 100 peach trees are mainly sold to people in the province, a few are sold to the North. Therefore, since the 10th of January, many peach tree owners have brought their peach trees back to the gardener to plant and take care of them until Tet to get them back.

“To prepare to serve customers, after Tet, I gathered the remaining peach trees in the garden into one plot to make room, prepare the soil, make beds, and dig holes to receive the “corpses” of peach trees that customers sent to take care of.

Gardeners prepare the soil, dig holes, and are ready to receive peach trees from customers who come to consign or hire care. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Due to the limited area, this year, I only take care of about 50-70 peach trees and do not dare to take on many, although the demand from people is very high. Not only peach trees bought from the garden but also ancient peach trees and bonsai peach trees worth tens of millions of VND bought from other places are also consigned to the garden, asking for care, shaping and creating shapes," said Mr. Nguyen Trong Tien.

Since January 7, Mr. Nguyen Van Thang (Long village, Thanh Linh commune, Thanh Chuong district) has welcomed the first peach trees that customers brought to him for care. “This is the third year I have provided this service. Thanks to careful care, the last Tet season, despite unfavorable weather conditions, the peach trees still bloomed on time; their shape was guaranteed, so many regular customers came back for further care.

After receiving the peach tree, Mr. Thang proceeded to prune all the excess flowers and branches to focus on nourishing the tree, helping it recover as quickly as possible. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Customers are mainly agencies, organizations, and units in the district who often buy large peach trees and bonsai peach trees worth tens of millions of dong to take care of. To serve the needs of customers, Mr. Thang rented 2 sao of land 64 of the locality to plant and take care of peach trees. However, because taking care of peach trees requires meticulousness, carefulness, and quite a lot of work, Mr. Thang only dares to accept a limited quantity, not a lot.

According to Mr. Thang, when a customer brings a peach tree, he will carefully examine the condition and growth ability of the tree, and only accept the tree if it is guaranteed. After that, the peach tree is pruned, the roots are trimmed and planted in the hole.

Many peach trees with unique shapes and high value are taken care of by gardeners. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“The best time to replant is after Tet until the full moon of January. At this time, the peach tree is still fresh, the roots are not yet withered, not too long, so the peach tree can recover easily. Planting and caring for peach trees must follow the correct procedures and techniques right from the beginning, because any mistake can affect the development, growth, and flowering of the tree later. To do this, garden owners must be experienced. A peach tree, if well cared for, can be rotated for 3-4 years,” Mr. Thang shared.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang rented rice field 64 of the commune to grow and take care of peach blossoms after Tet for customers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Depending on the value of the peach tree and the shape of each tree, the garden owner offers different care prices. The higher the value of the peach tree and the more elaborate its shape, the more expensive the care costs. Accordingly, the total care cost from the time of replanting until Tet ranges from 500,000 VND - 2 million VND/tree.

“This price is acceptable because buying a satisfactory peach tree is not easy and costs a lot of money. For example, this peach tree of mine bought for Tet 2022 cost 15 million VND, then I hired a gardener to take care of it for 1.5 million VND; this year, after the gardener assessed it, it can still be “revived” to enjoy Tet again, so I hired a car to bring the peach tree here to take care of it, and then “welcome” it back to display for Tet,” said Mr. Nguyen Phu Quy, a customer in Nghi Phu commune (Vinh city) who brought the peach tree to Mr. Tien’s garden.

After Tet, Mr. Nguyen Trong Tien took care of nearly 70 peach trees. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In recent years, peach connoisseurs often buy beautiful peach trees with unique shapes at high prices to display during Tet. After Tet, they send them to gardeners for care, and the next Tet, they bring the peach trees home to display, saving money and having a satisfactory peach tree. Since then, the service of taking care of peach trees after Tet has developed, becoming a livelihood for many people. However, every job has its risks, and requires "sweat and tears", to have peach trees that grow healthily, bloom beautifully, and bloom right on Tet is not an easy task...