When Mike O’Dell talks about growing his business, he really means it. The proprietor of Hawaiian Bonsai Nursery in Canoga Park has made a career of growing plants since he opened his first plant boutique in 1969. But his first love is bonsai trees, which he molds and shapes like sculptures. Staff reporter Shelly Garcia spoke to O’Dell about his art. “Mainly I got started doing cleanups and gardening, and a guy I had working for me learned how to propagate plants and do bonsai. I took it from there. “Originally, the bonsai is Chinese. And then it continued on with the Japanese. They popularized it, and Koreans do a lot with it, too. It can be American, like birch or pine, or Japanese with miniature plums. “I grow a lot of things from seeds and cuttings. Sometimes I buy little trees and train them and get the right shape so they’re ready to be sold. The idea is to duplicate a life-size tree in a smaller version. “To make a bonsai, I have to clip it, and once it gets a certain height, maybe I take off half of it and that forces it to grow more branches that can be shaped into a classic bonsai shape. “I learned by keeping my eyes and ears open, and I read a lot of books. I went to a few classes and also made a lot of mistakes and grew a lot of plants and got to where they were nice and saleable. “I’m only open by appointment. I’m not a volume concern, where I try to sell as many plants as I can. My idea is first to grow nice things, and then we’ll find the right owners for them. “Most customers come from referrals from other customers. A lot of it is gifts Christmas, some weddings, Mother’s Day. People want something to add a little color to their lives. “I have about 700 plants, 20 different varieties. The most expensive one I ever sold was 800 bucks. That was a type of juniper procumbens. It had been growing for a long time and had a real nice shape to it. I have things for $200 and $300, but I also sell little bonsais for $10. “I try to help everybody out and be friendly and show them some of the things I know to help them have a good experience in bonsai. It’s a little bit more than your average potted plant.”