Once he had the garden he wanted, Mr. Khai decided to quit his job in the information technology field. The garden owner shared: “I want to retire early to stay home and take care of the plants. If I were still working, I wouldn’t be able to take care of 200 plants of all kinds, especially in the hot, dry summer, it takes 4-6 hours to plant. water the tree”.
The greatest joy of gardeners in cold countries is that when spring comes, the trees in the garden sprout, flower, and bear fruit.
At that time, every morning, Mr. Khai sat on the balcony, sipping a cup of coffee, looking at the green trees, listening to the chirping of birds on the branches. In the afternoon, after watering the plants, he watched the sunset fall over the large trees. In the evening, there is a cool breeze so he can hang a hammock to lie down and watch the moon and stars.
During the first 5 years, the garden mainly planted shrubs and flowers along the fence, alternating with flowers that bloom in spring and summer. Later, in the middle of the garden, many fruit trees were planted such as apples, plums, pears, peaches…
Each season, the garden has its own beauty, for example, in autumn, the leaves turn yellow, and in winter, it is covered with white snow.
Every year, Mr. Khai goes to work in the garden from April to November, taking a 5-month winter break. Occasionally, to avoid the cold, he returns to Vietnam to visit his homeland because at that time he no longer needs to take care of the garden. When he was young, Mr. Khai liked sports, music and traveling around the world. Now he prefers to return to Vietnam.
Ice accumulated on trees during the cold season of November 2015, with weather of 1.2 degrees Celsius.
The first year, Mr. Khai spent about 3,000 USD to buy plants, soil and gardening supplies, lawn mowers… In the following years, the costs gradually decreased, currently about 500 USD/year.
Winter in Oklahoma is quite cold, sometimes below 0 degrees, so only plants that can withstand the cold can be grown. The tree goes dormant and buds again in the spring.
The biggest difficulty for gardeners in Oklahoma is the tornado season, which lasts from March to May. There are times when strong winds collapse houses and trees, so homeowners have to rebuild from scratch. Therefore, people often take many precautions (digging shelters, buying insurance).
When the flowers and fruit trees stabilize, Mr. Khai plans to grow vegetables and fruits such as luffa, cowpeas, eggplant, okra, and cucumbers this year. Some plants from seeds have sprouted, but the garden owner is still a bit worried because he has no experience growing vegetables.
The garden is so large that cutting it with a hand pusher would take 2 days. Therefore, homeowners are forced to use a lawn mower. The front garden takes 2 hours and the back garden takes 2.5 hours.
To gain more experience, Mr. Khai often watches programs teaching how to grow plants and reads gardening books to learn and experiment. Planters sold at supermarkets often come with additional instructions, which also makes things easier for plant lovers.
