Last weekend was a special one for Anthony Hansen. He got to spend it introducing people to one of his great loves: the art of bonsai. More than 80 of his cultivated miniature trees were displayed at the Bermuda Society of Arts as part of The Japanese Cultural Exchange.

The three-day event not only kicked off celebrations leading up to the society’s 75th anniversary in 2027, but also marked the launch of something else close to Mr Hansen’s heart — The Bermuda Bonsai Society.

One question he hears all the time is, where his fascination with ornamental trees and shrubs first began.

“So … the obvious answer to that is The Karate Kid, right? I think I'm the only person that was at [the BSoA opening] that has never seen The Karate Kid. The amount of shtick I get from not seeing The Karate Kid and parading myself as a bonsai professional is unbelievable,” Mr Hansen laughed.

He thinks he was influenced by his father, a part-time gardener whom he often helped with his work.

Sometime around the age of 9, he begged his parents for a tiny plot of land in their garden in England. To it, he added a small pond which ultimately became “a huge Japanese koi pond”.

Despite that, Mr Hansen did not consider a career in horticulture. He trained as a carpenter and entered the construction industry before moving into IT. Five years later, he felt “that itch”.

“[I was missing] horticulture — being outside, building ponds, working with my hands. That kind of drew me back into a business that I created, which was garden design,” he said.

He became co-owner of a nursery, where he specialised in specimen trees — large plants cultivated to serve as focal points in gardens.

“People were coming to the nursery and saying, ‘In five years, that shrub will really fill the space that we have.’ And I was like, ‘I haven't got five years to wait for that’,” he said.

“So we developed a co-operative of growers in northwest Italy, Pistoria, where they were specialising in huge half-tonne pot specimen trees and shrubs. I would fly over there and handpick all these specimen trees and fill up a huge [articulated] lorry.”

His very first garden design earned a prestigious national award in Britain, setting the stage for what was to come.

Through the nursery, he supplied plants for renowned events such as the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Garden Festival, and the Tatton Park Flower Show.

“We also did some TV work for an English channel, Channel 4,” he added.

Despite all the success, he decided to return to IT. “And then I got a call to come to Bermuda,” he said.

Until then, he had not given much thought to bonsai — until shortly after meeting his wife, when she began asking for one. Eager to please, he took on the challenge, and it soon became a passion.

“I think ultimately, it was a reflection of the time and the employment I was in; it just gave me that meditative experience that I needed.

“I needed that peace — that moment where I’d start working on a bonsai for 30 minutes, and before I knew it, two hours had passed. Just being out there on my own with the tree, not thinking about work or life … that’s the kind of spiritual experience, I guess, that you can get from bonsai,” Mr Hansen said.

“And then it spiralled out of control. It got to where there were over 100 bonsai here.”

Four years ago, he reached a point where he realised he no longer enjoyed his work in IT.

So, he quit and launched his own business, Bonsai Garden Design. He knew he was on to something when, at the 2023 Ag Show, the ten trees he submitted drew heaps of attention.

“They all got first prize, but there wasn't much competition, to be fair. What turned it around for me at that point was that I was going up there every day to water the trees, expecting a ten, 15-minute visit, and I was up there for hours.

“One time I was up there for three hours, surrounded by all these people wanting to know information about bonsai.”

It took a while before he understood the comment he heard most often: “I didn't know you could get bonsai in Bermuda.”

“They thought that bonsai was a species of tree,” he said. “People started going to Aberfeldy and Brighton Nurseries asking, ‘Have you got any bonsai?’ Bonsai is a technique. It’s a method. It’s a way of life, almost. It’s not a species; pretty much anything can be bonsai.

“At that point I was like, ‘Wow. There’s a huge gap in knowledge here about bonsai. There’s a huge appetite for bonsai.’”

It is why he started offering workshops through his company. The courses, which run over four Saturdays and cost $700, have attracted attention from both expert growers and beginners alike.

“There’s all levels of enthusiasts,” he said. “We only have three members of [The Garden Club of Bermuda] that have joined our society, and within a few weeks we’ve now got 40 members.”

An annual membership fee of $65 grants access to a “very friendly, communal” WhatsApp group where questions can be asked. There is also a monthly meeting where discussions cover specific species of trees and how to pot them. Mr Hansen will give advice and help to style trees that are brought in.

• For more information e-mail bermudabonsaisociety@gmail.com or visit@bermudabonsaisocietyon Instagram. Contact Anthony Hansen atbonsaigardendesign.com, bonsaigardendesign@gmail.com or @bonsaigardendesignon Instagram. For more on Bermuda Society of Arts, visitbsoa.bm