Add color to life

(Baonghean.vn) - One day at the end of the year, we had the opportunity to visit the bonsai garden of Mr. Hoang Dai Nam - Tru 1 hamlet, Kim Lien commune - Nam Dan district. The most open space in the garden of over 200m2 is given priority by him to collect and play with plants with a close friend who shares the same passion.

The garden has over 100 trees that have been shaped, including Sanh, Mung, Tau, Den and some other trees. The trees, big or small, old or young, are carefully and meticulously cared for in trays and pots with many designs and styles suitable for each type of tree and tree shape. There are over 40 trees, mainly Mung and Sanh, determined by their age and aesthetic beauty.

The Barringtonia acutangula tree worth hundreds of millions of dong at Mr. Tran Duc Quang's house - Do Luong Student Association

According to Mr. Nam, to have the garden as desired, he and his friend went directly to the highland districts such as Anh Son, Tan Ky and then to Nghi Xuan and Hong Linh districts many times, first to have time to learn the tree-creating techniques of his fellow students, then to the rocky mountains, the cliffs, the wild areas where the trees could be brought back to plant and shape in their own style.

He was excited, “I used to love playing with trees but only had a few decent trees. Luckily, at the beginning of this year, I met a good friend so we cooperated. There are more and more people playing with and collecting trees, so I have to invest both effort and capital to both collect and buy trees to serve the needs of buyers. With a relatively large number of trees, I decided to contact and invite some experts and famous artisans in the bonsai village in Nam Dinh city to directly prune and shape them to learn, so this year's Tet has a bonsai garden as desired.” According to our research, this is a garden with a large investment of effort in Nam Dan district.

In many areas such as Anh Son, Do Luong, the bonsai movement has become richer and more flourishing than many years ago. For everyone, for every household, in units, schools, and agencies, bonsai plays an indispensable role, adding to the beauty and solemnity and elegance of individual works. What is more noteworthy is that artisans have directed the art of bonsai towards the comprehensive beauty of aesthetics and value. A beautiful tree must meet three criteria: ancient, strange and beautiful, meaning the tree is old, has many years, is unique and has high aesthetics... At the time we visited, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh - block 5 of Anh Son town was taking care of each bonsai tree of all kinds with his wife, in order to prepare for the Tet market.

Having been involved in the bonsai profession for nearly 10 years, he happily said: “Since the beginning of the year, I have exported nearly 100 bonsai trees, both large and small, to people in the district and some areas such as Con Cuong, Tan Ky and many customers from Nam Dinh have also come to buy. Buyers no longer care much about the type of tree, but set standards for the shape and posture of the tree. Therefore, for many people, expensive or cheap is not the most important thing. Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh analyzed: A set of medium-sized banyan trees, shaped after 3 years, with a trunk 1m high and 5 canopies, meaning they meet the standards of long shape and five blessings, a trunk with 30 rings, the selling price two years ago was only 1.5 million VND/pair, this year it has increased to 6 million VND/pair. For a shade tree with 100 rings/tree, reaching the age of 15, 4m high, the price is now 30 million VND, 6 times higher than 2 years ago. Tree Cast-seeded trees are more valuable than grafted trees. Among ornamental plants, trees and plants are the two most popular and valuable. People's tastes are more sophisticated than before, many people call to order trees, prices, shapes and trays 1 month in advance before bringing them home.

In Do Luong, many gardens of members of the town's ornamental plant association (SVC) gather many ancient, strange and valuable beauties. In the garden of Mr. Tran Duc Quang - Chairman of the town's ornamental plant association, there is a set of 5 Barringtonia trees, 3 of which are over 100 years old, with a bold shape, a tumor on the trunk, and even foliage. He said that most of the beautiful ancient trees are exploited wild and are easy to adapt. According to Mr. Quang's assessment, many members used to be passionate about cockfighting, beer, wine, and birds and animals, but in the end, they still stopped at the SVC association. Currently, the association has 3 small branches, attracting more than 70 members to participate in activities.

This year, the bonsai movement of the association has more depth and breadth than before, attracting nearly 200 people to participate in providing bonsai and potted bonsai services. Since the beginning of the year, the association has mobilized over 2 billion VND to purchase trees from facilities and professional players in the province and some northern provinces such as Ninh Binh and Nam Dinh. Due to the general impact of the economy and finance, in the last 6 months of the year, tree prices have stagnated, down by 50% compared to the period of high stability.

The association has also sold over 1 billion VND worth of many beautiful plants according to the needs of some players from Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong, and Hanoi. At this time, the majority of the market is still people with the tendency to choose normal plants, prices ranging from 200,000 to 2 million VND/plant. Mr. Quang excitedly said: "Currently, we are preparing for the Spring Flower and Ornamental Plant Fair which will be held on the 25th of the 12th lunar month, inviting members, plant players in the area, regions, and flower and ornamental plant producers from the provinces to attend. Through this Spring Flower and Ornamental Plant Fair, Do Luong will move towards an exhibition of ornamental plants in 2012".

In the last days of the year, along with the collection and trading of ornamental plants, services for plant care have also become more bustling and busy. Especially the service of producing trays and pots. Mr. Le Duc Sinh, hamlet 1 Luu Son - Do Luong, is with some brothers completing the details of the border and legs of the trays and pots according to the contract with the Association of SVC of Do Luong town, excitedly said: "This year's Tet, the demand for trays and pots is so high that we can't keep up. People from Cay Chanh, Phuc Son (Anh Son) and Tan Ky district call down to order continuously. This year, the types of trays with 2 pedestals and trays of many sizes with prices from 350,000 to 550,000 VND/piece, to serve the needs of customers, we also produce a new type of tray, which is a large-sized tray without pedestal, priced at 1 million VND/tray, this type of tray is suitable for many trees with ancient shapes.

Tet is coming again, flower and ornamental plant growers in many localities are adding new colors to the Spring.

Luong Mai