Durban - Every week, without fail, Farouk Patel spends hours watering and pruning his beloved bonsai trees, all 1500 of them.
It is by no means a chore, but a hobby that helps him unwind.
The trees, said Patel, dated back hundreds of years and were his prized possessions.
The 60-year-old, of Durban North, admits that he is concerned about who will take care of them when he is unable to.
“When I started the art of bonsai 35 years ago, I spent hours a day watering, feeding, maintaining and caring for them.
"Now that I am older, I spend an hour or two taking care of them about three times a week.
"I have three children who used to help me, but now that they are older, they have other commitments.”
Patel, an importer of wholesale textiles, was bitten by the bonsai bug while caring for his mother.
“I was 25 and worked in marketing for Kingsgate Clothing Manufacturers.
"My mother had fallen ill and I had to spend more time at home with her. In my spare time, I took up gardening as a hobby,” he said.
“I was also courting my now wife, Mia, around this time and my garden had the best and freshest roses, which I would often give to her.”
While experimenting with different plants to grow, Patel stumbled upon bonsai.
“It looked challenging and more interesting than just gardening.
"I purchased three bonsai trees at a flea market near the ICC in Durban.
"Remember, there was no internet back then, so all the information on how to care for them came from books, which I had to purchase.”
He then joined the Durban Bonsai Society, of which he is now the chairman.
“While sharing information, I stumbled on books on how to keep the trees visually pleasing.
"Those books, unfortunately, catered for people living in the northern hemisphere, so I had to adapt the information to suit our climate.
“There is a misconception that bonsai trees are from Japan. They’re not.
"The word “bonsai” means the art form of keeping a tree small in a pot. Also any tree can be a bonsai. You have to learn the art of making the bonsai, the different styles and how to develop those styles.”
The oldest bonsai in Patel’s collection is a 400-year-old olive tree.
“Although I do not know the exact age of the plant, I know it takes about 150 years to get to a certain growth, and in terms of its size we can say it is about 400 years old.
"I also had some bonsai masters from overseas visit, and they confirmed it could be that age. The actual way to track its age is to cut the tree and count the rings, but then you lose a perfect bonsai.”
Most of his trees are dug from bushes in and around Durban.
“I have another olive bonsai between 300 and 400 years old that I sourced from Inanda. I still go out searching for possible bonsai trees that I can pot and, during our bonsai conventions, I put some of my favourites on display, while others are sold.”
And what exactly does Patel’s family think about his obsession?
“They think I am a bit crazy,” he laughed. “But they value my collection just like they value me.”
He added: “My wife always says I spend too much time with my collection, and that she hopes I get out of this phase, but I think she eventually got tired of complaining and grew to understand my passion for it.
Also, when people admire my trees or if I get a trophy or two, she feels proud. My children, on the other hand, were keen on helping out when they were younger, but now that they are older, life takes over.”
Patel has earned a few accolades for his trees over the years, but said the prize-giving ceremonies had stopped.
“It’s not about having the oldest or the biggest bonsai. It’s about how you care for and maintain it. We cannot judge and give certain people trophies. How would the guys who also dedicate their time feel?
"So we did away with giving awards, but it is amazing to see the amount of people who come to our shows. People work on their bonsai with pride and the finished product is beautiful.”
Speaking on selling the fascinating plants, Patel said they could range in price from R100 to in the thousands.
“It’s not easy to put a price on it because we spend a lot of time and effort in them and it depends on how much of that time and effort the seller invested. Also, the older more established trees will cost a lot.
“But people need to be cautious when it comes to purchasing bonsai because there are a lot of commercial trees being imported from China.
"It’s best a person looks at the structure of the plant before purchasing. It must have some balance and character, and then only you know it is imported.”
The Durban Bonsai Society holds its bonsai show annually and are preparing for the National Bonsai Show in Bloemfontein in November.
The group meets every second Sunday of the month at Lions Club (behind Pick * Pay Hyper by the Sea) in Durban North. For enquiries, call Farouk Patel at 0826786573 or visit the Durban Bonsai Society on Facebook.