It’s the little things, a passion for Bonsai

There’s a feeling of awe walking into the South Park backyard of Bob Dietz. Homemade display racks filled with hundreds of bonsai trees are the results of 30 years of passionate and artistic gardening.

Bob Dietz is the past president of the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society. He poses in his South Park backyard with hundreds of bonsai trees. Photos by Doug Oster

Poking your head in the basement reveals shelves on every wall with pots, wire and other bonsai supplies. He’s not only past president of the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society, he also runs Bonsai in the Burgh, where members and others can find everything they need to craft their trees.
Dietz always loved plants, but it was a chance meeting in 1995 with the late Keith Scott, who founded the bonsai program at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, that changed his life.
Scott acted as mentor, and the two spent countless days for years working together on shaping and forming bonsai trees. One of Dietz’s most prized specimens belonged to the man who inspired him.

This lion’s head maple is one of the favorites grown by Bob Dietz. It originally belonged to his mentor Keith Scott who founded the bonsai program at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

“I have a lion’s head maple that came from Keith Scott,” says Dietz, who was with Scott when he bought the tree; back then it was just a little sapling.
One thing about bonsai, Dietz says, “you never have one tree.” He started with 12, a donation from a club member.
Most of the plants he grows are specifically offered for growing as bonsai. They have been bought from bonsai nurseries, grown by other like-minded gardeners or found another way. Part of the fun, he says, is discovering something at a nursery not originally meant for bonsai, and usually on clearance.
“We don’t want the true upright specimen, we want something that’s deformed, that has character so to speak,” he adds with a laugh.
The idea is to slowly transform a tree in miniature to look like one that has been growing for decades or longer in the wild. It could be one tree, a tiny forest or take many other forms. Dietz gets inspiration for his creations by spending time in the woods.
“I really enjoy nature,” he says. “To see a tree that is distressed and survived through the elements and now to be able to try and mimic the tree in a miniature form, that’s pretty impressive.”
He spends hours meticulously trimming and shaping the trees. Some of the branches and trunks are held in position by wires. It’s a very individual creative endeavor as each gardener has a different vision for the tree.
“It’s a living art form,” he says. “They are always growing; they never stay stagnant. You have to prune the top; you have to work on the roots.”
Patience is key, he says, but the ability to visualize is essential. “One of the hardest things about this is when you’re working on a tree, you’re thinking about what it’s going to look like five or 10 years from now,” Dietz says.

Bob Dietz is the past president of the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society. These are some of the bonsai azaleas he grows.

Bob Dietz is the past president of the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society. He prunes on of the hundreds of bonsai trees he cares for.

Part of the art is knowing the limitations of the tree, like all things in gardening, nature is always in charge.
“If you take an Alberta spruce, prune it all up, make it real nice and put wire on it, when you take wire off maybe a year later, that spruce will go right back into its original position,” Dietz says.
One of the things that all gardeners know is that plants don’t live forever. When he lost a 250-year-old ponderosa pine that belonged to his mentor, it was tough. “I was pretty low to lose something of that caliber,” he says.
Anyone can learn bonsai, he says, but there’s a certain dedication needed to growing these trees that can rule a gardener’s life.
“Sometimes it dictates when you go on vacation,” he says. “Because you can’t leave them in the summer unless you have someone (with some expertise) who can water them. If your not committed to daily watering during the summertime, it’s not something you should do.”
After a lifetime in industrial sales working purely for commission, he now uses bonsai as a way unwind.
“I get enjoyment out of creating something that’s different,” he says. “It’s a way for me to relax. I don’t have anybody talking back to me, I just work on the tree and talk to the tree.”

The Pittsburgh Bonsai Society will hold a Bonsai Show at Phipps Garden Center at Shady and Fifth Ave. in Shadyside Saturday June 3 from 10 a.m until 5 p.m. and Sunday June 4th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to the public. It’s a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the organization and will include workshops, demonstrations, bonsai displays, trees and accessories for sale and more.
Details: pittsburghbonsai.org

Doug Oster is the Everybody Gardens home and garden editor. Reach him at 412-965-3278 or doster@535mediallc.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodygardens.com.