The owner of the unusual garden is Nguyen Tien Dung, 59, a retired colonel and former head of training at a military school.

The grape-like orange clusters in the garden of retired colonel Nguyen Tien Dung.

In October 2023, after retiring, Dung decided to experiment with grafting Canh orange branches onto old pomelo rootstocks after seeing a similar model at a relative’s home.

“I had planned to clear the pomelo garden and switch to areca palms because the trees were already old,” Dung said. “But when I saw traders actively buying pomelo rootstocks, I learned they were using them for orange grafting. That made me keep the trees and try it myself.”

His first attempt proved successful.

What has made the garden go viral is its unusually heavy fruiting. Of the 48 grafted pomelo trees, 35 met production standards, yielding between 150 kg and 200 kg per tree. The vivid orange colour covers the trees from trunk to canopy, almost completely obscuring the green foliage.

The orange trees are laden with fruit.

Unlike conventional orange orchards, the grafted oranges grow in dense clusters, each containing 10 to 30 fruits. The clusters hang low to the ground or rest on branches, creating a distinctive visual effect.

The most eye-catching feature is a cluster of 28 tightly packed oranges with almost no gaps, resembling a giant bunch of grapes.

“Many people joked that I must have glued the fruits together because it looks unreal,” Dung said.

To support the heavy loads, Dung designed a system of sturdy bamboo poles and ropes for each tree to prevent branches from breaking under the weight of what visitors call “orange grape clusters”.

“For nearly two years, I have been in the garden almost every day, pruning pomelo shoots and carefully tending each grafted bud, even more attentively than raising a young child,” he said.

With the orchard’s growing popularity, the family registered with the provincial tourism authority and opened the garden to visitors. Several tour groups visit daily to sightsee and take photos free of charge, with the number rising to dozens of groups on weekends.

The family began selective harvesting from mid-December in the lunar calendar, with the season lasting through the Lunar New Year holiday. With 48 grafted trees, the orchard is expected to generate more than 200 million VND this Tet season.

Visitors check in at the orange garden.

Standing in the vibrant orchard at year’s end and watching visitors praise his work, Dung said he felt deeply satisfied.

“I do this first for enjoyment in my retirement, and also to feel that I can still be useful - creating value and beauty on my own homeland,” the retired colonel said.

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