Tree shaping or Arbor sculpture, is the practice of shaping, bending, and grafting the same tree or two of the same species of tree together to form living structures. Living artistic designs, and functional art like chairs and tables and mirrors have been created using this technique.
Reknowned artist Axel Erlandson (1884-1964) created more than 70 tree sculptures in his lifetime, at his Tree Circus farm in Scotts Valley, California. When asked how he created them, he replied mystically “ I talk to them”. Beyond tree-man communication, the physical work is complex, involving grafting compatible trees together. In nature, root occurs all the time in the forest and the phenomenon is called "inosculation." In grafting, the two cambial layers of the tree will connect and grow as one. The cambium is the layer of growth cells that create the xylem and phloem (vascular system) and cause the diameter increase of the roots or trunk.
Root grafting helps native mature trees to share immune signals and hormones. Through a shared vascular system, trees of the same species support each other with nutrients and anchorage against strong winds. Powerful mature stands of trees in this way express a grandparent and grandchild relationship between the apex trees and their fledgling descendants. In the forest, maples, pines, sycamore and elms participate in root grafting. Native branch grafting, while less common, is supported by the Sycamore, Beech, and Hornbeam and others. Tree branches or trunks can also be grafted artifically by physically removing the outer bark and securing together the two cambium layers of the wood. This allows for infinite possibilities of shape and growth, which dedicated and patient artists like Axel Erlandson grow into art!
The earliest known tree sculpting examples are found in northern India. For centuries, the Khasi people used the living roots of the Banyan Ficus to create suspension bridges to allow passage over deep ravines. These suspension bridges have been known to hold over fifty people, some of them 100 feet long and 200 years old. This practice spread to the Middle East where Ancient Persians would shape and graft trees to form garden sheds and living arbors. In a very practical usage, Mideival farmers created braided or pleated hedgerows, which formed impenetrable living walls to keep cows in and predators out. In the 15th -19th centuries Rennaisance and then Victorian gardeners would create elaborate covered walkways and gate structures out of hornbeam tree. The bending, shaping, creasing and grafting of trees requires years of patience, careful planning, skill and artistic imagination. Modern tree scultping has evolved into sustainable creations such as living chairs, benches, tables, mirror frames and even full dwellings. People nowadays want more than ever to be able to connect to their art and add to the artists concept over time. Tree Scultings as a design practice emobdies the ideal of "art as a living thing" and will most definitely become more popular over time.
Written by Richard Caldwell and Andrew Bachman
Arborists employed by Trout Brook Landscaping and Tree Service of West Hartford, CT
