Prosperity

Community Comments

Tiny-Tree Hugger

By Marion Anthonisen

“My garden does not look like a normal garden,” says Carmichael Optical owner Long Vu. “In some ways, it resembles a nursery. Just lots of little trees.” More than 100 little trees, in fact. Bonsai trees.
     “Bonsai is my refuge,” says Vu. “I can disconnect myself from work, start my day peacefully and end my day peacefully.” Working six days a week, Vu and his wife have owned Carmichael Optical since 1979. Vu believes bonsai keeps him balanced. “My staff noticed that in the six years since I’ve had bonsai, I’ve been a much calmer person,” says Vu. “I don’t come into work screaming.” Vu spends at least three hours a day with his bonsai. He rises at 5:30 a.m. to feed and water his 100-plus plants, and he resumes the careful process in the early evening.
     Translated from its original Japanese, the word bonsai means something like “tray gardening.” While bonsai trees may appear dwarfed, the plants grow just as robustly as their wild counterparts but are kept in check by meticulous root and foliage pruning. Most of Vu’s trees are imported directly from Japan or harvested from the Sierra Nevada range or the Mojave Desert. Some of the mountain trees are decades or even centuries old.
     Would Vu ever start a bonsai business? “When you mix your business with your hobby, it becomes a chore,” says Vu, who calls himself a bonsai beginner. “The first thing I want to do when I retire is travel to Japan, become an apprentice and learn the art all over again from scratch,” says Vu. “I would probably start by cleaning the bathroom, like any apprentice. Then the master will teach me accordingly, as I need to be taught.”

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments