Living labors of love shine at bonsai show
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Bonsai are as diverse as those who create them, but one thing is always the same: The tree decides how it’s shaped, says Bob Dietz of South Park, former president of the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society.
Some of his trees will be among the many bonsai on display at the group’s 36th annual show on June 3-4 at Phipps Garden Center in Shadyside. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 3 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 4. As always, the event is free.
Mr. Dietz was introduced to the pursuit during a visit to Phipps Conservatory in the early 1990s. He met Keith Scott, then curator of the Phipps collection and well-renowned in the world of bonsai. One of his trees is in the National Arboretum in Washington D.C.
In those days, Mr. Dietz was working as a salesman. When he heard Mr. Scott was giving classes at Swissvale Library, he changed his travel schedule to attend.
“We became friends,” he says, “He had workshops at his home and I was invited. He became my mentor, teacher, and that really developed my technique.”
Scott died in 2011 and some of his trees ended up in Mr. Dietz’s collection in South Park. He has hundreds of bonsai, he said, and they either stay outdoors year-round or are moved into an unheated hoop house in the fall.
They are generally displayed on benches, which puts them at the correct height for viewing, he explains. He has many types, including boxwood, azaleas, elms, junipers, black pine, hemlocks, dawn redwood and bald cypress. “I like variety,” he says. A wide variety of growers belong to the 60-year-old society. Many grow tropical bonsai, which must be brought indoors in the winter. Bob Grealish, who is also a past president, has a large bonsai collection.
“His trees are older than mine because he’s been doing it longer,
and they are very refined,” says Mr. Dietz.
Another member, Danny Yobp, lived and worked in Japan and specializes in miniatures called mothe, make and shohin. Some literally fit in your hand.
The Japanese word bonsai translates as “trees in a tray,” referring to the flat, shallow pots that most are grown in. But there are no size limitations on the pots. The plants have a long life if they are well cared for, but they are also very labor-intensive and certainly a labor of love.
While one might imagine the hobby would be expensive, you don’t need much to get started. In fact, Mr. Dietz finds some of his specimens in the clearance section or junk piles of nurseries.
“I want something that’s been twisted, turned and abused ... plants that are distorted. That to me gives them character.”
The only way to start is by doing it, he says. Visitors at next weekend’s show can get advice from bonsai society members, watch stylings at 11 a.m. each day and take part in workshops at 1 p.m. both days. (Reservations are required for the workshops and there is a fee for supplies. Contact Terry Monroe at 412-443-3933 or terrym74@yahoo.com).
Plants and supplies will also be available for purchase. If that doesn’t appeal, says Mr. Dietz, just come to the club meetings; you are not required to join. It’s a welcoming group that has about 100 members from all walks of life.
Mr. Dietz says he finds the pursuit stimulating because there is always something new to learn and somebody willing to mentor. As his confidence has grown, his style has evolved. Mr. Dietz jokes that he’s given his wife Darla a number to call in case something happens to him, so his plants will outlive him. She admires his bonsai, but not the work that goes with them.
“It would be a sin to have all these plants die from lack of care,” he says.
Mr. Dietz says it is common for other bonsai lovers to receive plants when a friend passes away, as he and Mr. Grealish did when Scott died. He remembers his mentor once telling him, “You have to cut off the insignificant branches.”
“I said, ‘I don’t know what they are.’ But now I do.”