#treeshaping

The desire to live with trees is part of being human. This longing is planted deep in our consciousness and open meadows surrounded by trees with running water is our preferred habitat. The concept of shaping trees appears in literature and art, with the earliest known painting by Jean Perreal in 1516. These were created by people with no understanding of tree lore and so their dream concepts don’t work in reality, but nor did the first dreamers who dreamt of going to the moon. The important thing is the desire to turn the dream into reality.

Discovering a repeatable process of shaping trees is a combination of different factors: an understanding of how trees grow; time to dream a design and then experiment which can take 1 to 20 years for each lesson learned and persistence to repeat different designs until a body of tree lore is understood. Only then can you design with trees, knowing what the outcome will be. 

There are three methods to achieving a shaped tree. Aeroponic root culture, Instant tree shaping (Arborsculpture) and Gradual tree shaping.

Aeroponic root culture is the growing of the roots aeroponicly. The roots are grown in a nutrient rich mix until the roots are five meters or more in length. This method of growing roots allows them to remain flexible enough to be shaped without damage before the root tips are planted into the ground. The idea behind this method is to grow large amounts of roots that can be used as a building material, thus creating almost instant living structures. As the roots thicken they will create a solid wall of trees over time.

This method is limited due to being only able to use trees that can cope with their roots being exposed to the air. Figs are the main trees being tested and they may do well with straightforward designs. The research into this is still ongoing and no experiments have been published. Time will tell, but this may be a very useful technique.

Otherwise known as Arborsculpture, Instant tree shaping is basically 3D pleaching. The method uses tree whips approximately 2-3 meters long. These are bent and woven into the design shape and held by metal bars until the trees new growth rings form a cast. The maturity of the trees and the damage done in the bending process will determine the length of time needed for the new growth to strengthen the cast, and then stabilise into the new shape. It can be anywhere from 2-15 years or longer. Some tree shapers are trialing this method to create benches, chair, bridges, fences and even living homes.

The advantages of this method is that an instant pleasant effect is achieved and the shaping can be done in as little as one hour for a chair or medium size project. People can see straight off what you are trying to achieve. The disadvantages are slow uneven growth and dieback, which can take years to show.

Gradual tree shaping starts with the supporting framework. Into this frame the growth pathways are built. These pathways are either on wooden jigs or a shaped wire pathway. Then seedlings or small cuttings 7-30cm (3-12in) tall are planted. The actual shaping of the new growth happens with the training of the shaping zone. This training is a daily or weekly shaping of young growth, depending on the size of the project as to how long it takes to grow a tree along the length of the design. Once the trees have grown the full length, wait for them to thicken the design with time.