KELLEY — A middle-aged man walks out of his house and down the wooden stairs to his greenhouse. It doesn’t smell like flowers, but of juniper pine needles and key lime mixed with rainwater and dirt.

In his greenhouse, ISU alumnus Dave Lowman grows more than 200 tropical, subtropical and temperate bonsai trees.

“Bonsai [pronounced bone sigh] is a tree in a tray,” said Lowman, owner of DaSu Studio, 27887 Timber Road in Kelley. “Banzai is when you’re dive-bombing an aircraft carrier.”

Bonsai trees are styled to grow a certain way, and the sizes in DaSu Studio range from 6 inches to 4 feet tall, all growing in different directions with branches that curve downward and outward.

Lowman said he has been shaping, wiring, clipping, watering, fertilizing and teaching others about bonsai trees for 21 years. The art involved with the process calms him and gives him a sense of peace, he said.

Working with bonsai trees is a great way for Lowman to connect with nature and enter into a “quiet, silent, now moment,” he said.

Although he has a lot of fun working with bonsai trees, Lowman said someday he wants to offer an Avatar course, a nine-day seminar teaching people exercises to take control of their lives.

“Avatar is applying tools to create an awareness that is free of restrictions — a discovery that one’s awareness is not one’s consciousness — and become identified with the mind and physical body,” he said.

Lowman said he has observed in nature a quiet acceptance of whatever comes, which creates a calming and healing effect.

“You don’t find trees or animals protesting life,” he said.

Ron Heinen, 1215 Stafford Ave., said he occasionally helps Lowman in the greenhouse. He has been working with bonsai trees for 12 years and has known Lowman for the same amount of time.

“David is extraordinarily bright and intuitive about nature and aesthetics; he’s an extraordinary artist,” Heinen said.

Lowman said each time he enters his large greenhouse, his mind starts to slow down and his agitations subside.

The DaSu Studio greenhouse is made of polyethylene plastic, polycarbonate and glass windows Lowman bought at a garage sale.

It is divided into two sections, one for temperate zone bonsai trees, which require a cold rest period, such as crab apple, elm and bald cypress, he said.

Temperatures range from 15 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter, he said.

The other section, which is kept at a temperature between 45 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit, is used for tropical and subtropical bonsai trees and is covered by a polyethylene plastic tent, he said.

A bonsai tree is grown in various ways. It can be grown by seed, which is the longest and most tedious process, Lowman said. Other ways to grow a bonsai tree include taking cuttings of other trees, buying nursery stock or taking a tree from its natural habitat, he said.

Lowman has collected trees from California, Arizona, Oregon, Florida, Connecticut and Washington.

Many bonsai tree growers start with a large tree and reduce it in size by cutting branches and replanting them or by trimming the tree down to size and replanting it, he said. The trees are replanted in ceramic trays.

“Clipping is the main thing that dwarfs the tree,” he said.

Lowman makes the ceramic trays himself, using imported clay.

“He makes the best pots, both functionally and aesthetically,” Heinen said.

Although Lowman works in the greenhouse developing bonsai trees, he also takes time to look at them and enjoy them while he sits in the swim spa that is located in the greenhouse.

“It’s nice to watch the snow fall and relax in the swim spa and look over at the green growing trees,” he said.

At Iowa State, Lowman minored in horticulture, which taught him the fundamentals of plant growing.

He became interested in bonsai trees after reading a book about Luther Burbank.

Lowman said while reading the book, he pictured a bonsai tree in the back of his mind and has been interested in Asian culture since.

Growing and caring for bonsai trees is not an easy task, he said.

The trees require a lot of attention, and those growing them must be serious about it in order to have successful trees.

The majority of bonsai trees Lowman produces are sold on the Internet, he said.

“The price starts at $30 and goes up,” he said.

Lowman said some of his better trees are hard to part with, and he hesitates to sell to people who have minimal experience caring for a bonsai.

Lowman said he has been styling and training one bonsai tree for more than 10 years.

“It’s a thrill to have a forest that you can hold in the palm of your hand,” he said.