Live beautifully with a passion for bonsai

When life improves and the economy stabilizes, many people turn to the hobby of playing with birds, plants, and ornamental fish. After a stressful and pressured working period, returning home to listen to birds singing, watching ornamental plants sprout and bloom, watching the aquarium... suddenly all the hardships almost disappear. That elegant and noble way of playing is not only for the elderly, "countryside enjoyment" but also for young people.

Grasping this need, many people from the midlands and remote areas went to the mountains to look for tree roots. From the big trees that were felled by loggers and left behind, many people exploited, sawed, trimmed, and collected them to bring back to the plains. Some people specialized in buying back the roots or asking for them from ethnic minorities. They "wrestled" with the branches and old tree roots, breathed life into them, shaped them, and then brought them to the streets to sell to people who have a hobby of bonsai.

Sống đẹp với niềm đam mê cây cảnh - Ảnh 1. — A corner of Ms. Nhan's garden

Start a business

Grasping the pulse of the market, Ms. Hong Nhan (born in 1970) started her business from exploiting to buying and selling bonsai roots. With a saw, pruning shears, and a foldable engineering shovel, she walked around the mountainside, hillsides, waded through streams... "hunting" for banyan, fig, sesame roots...

Carrying a few bonsai trees on her bicycle, she went down the street to scout the market. There was no need to shout until her voice was hoarse. Sometimes, while she was leisurely cycling on the street, someone would call out to her. Customers were very satisfied and amazed when they saw her unique and strange products. They competed to buy them and even placed orders. She diligently searched and discovered many strange tree stumps of various shapes. Thanks to those tree stumps that were thought to be discarded, but with her "sharp" eyes and skillful hands, they became valuable. When the city planned to expand many roads, some trees were cut off their tops and cut down. She picked up the branches and brought them home to trim into bonsai shapes to sell.

Interested and passionate about green trees, she abandoned her rice fields and used her family's land to open a nursery. At first, the operation was difficult, partly due to lack of output and partly due to unfavorable weather. And especially, her skills and techniques were not high in growing seedlings as well as shaping bonsai. She worked hard to learn from the experiences of her aunts, uncles, farmers in the village, commune and even from books. Thanks to her perseverance and passion for green trees, along with the support of her husband and children, she overcame many obstacles and difficulties. Her establishment gradually attracted many gardeners to order, including some agencies, units, and schools in the commune and neighboring areas. Plants such as string of pearls, purple evening primrose, bean grass, green bamboo... are consumed in many places in the city, even as far as Quang Tri and Quang Binh .

Sống đẹp với niềm đam mê cây cảnh - Ảnh 2. — Take advantage of vacant land to temporarily cover with greenery

"Greening" vacant land

The advantage is that around Ms. Nhan's house there are still many abandoned plots of land or on both sides of the concrete road in the village that are still wide. These are the plots of land that she can use to plant seedlings because her garden is overloaded. She said: "Many vacant plots of land are places where people easily throw garbage, defecate, and are prone to mosquitoes and infectious diseases... Some plots of land that the landowner has not built a house or planted crops, I would like to temporarily exploit, always keeping them clean, avoiding pollution, as well as creating a cool green color for passersby."

Indeed, I saw wild lands with grass taller than a person, some of which were cleared by her to make a flat surface for pruning trees and growing seedlings... On both sides of the village road, there were many sections that were previously bumpy and covered with thick grass, now there were patches of green trees dotted with beautiful yellow flowers. In the hot summer, people walking on the concrete road with "seedling nurseries" on both sides would certainly feel comfortable. It is not an exaggeration to say that Ms. Nhan's hands have created many green spots for the roads of La Bong village. The local government and residents have constantly praised her for her good work. After that, she rented land to expand the nursery.

In particular, nearly ten elderly women in the commune come to help with the work of taking care of plants, growing seedlings, packing... Some elderly people who do not know how to ride a motorbike are arranged by her to work in the garden. Others are assigned to decorate places that require it or transport ornamental plants to gardeners. Their income is very stable, and their lives have clearly improved.

Sống đẹp với niềm đam mê cây cảnh - Ảnh 3. — Ms. Nhan mixes manure to grow plants.

Passion for bonsai is still green

Recently, she happily shared her business story and said that growing and selling ornamental plants is her passion that is hard to give up.

Passionate about trees and hard-working, Ms. Nhan has brought her family out of poverty sustainably. The economy has improved significantly day by day. The spacious house has grown from bonsai roots and new seedlings that she has cared for and cherished. Her two children have gone to school, creating jobs for some workers and most importantly, contributing to creating a green and clean environment in the village.

Ms. Ho Thi Lai, Vice Chairwoman of Hoa Tien Commune People's Committee, formerly Chairwoman of the Commune Women's Union, shared: "Previously, the seedling nursery model in La Bong village was very good and operated effectively. Many local movements had practical contributions from Ms. Hong Nhan, especially in environmental protection. At the same time, she has created jobs for many elderly women in the locality. In the past 3 years, due to moving the facility to Nam Son village, which is a bit far from home, the production scale has narrowed."

Trips to the Southwest to exchange experiences, buy and sell, and exchange seedlings make her more optimistic and maintain her career. The garden cannot be bare. The green color of bonsai cannot fade. Thanks to her determination to overcome difficulties, the passion for bonsai is still fresh in Ms. Hong Nhan.