'We mould trees to grow into the shape of chairs'

I first read about tree shaping in a Readers Digest magazine in the 1990s. It featured a man who would shapes trees into chairs and other sculptures. Even since then I wanted to do it. I got started on a white cherry tree that started growing in my yard. Once it got large enough, I would braid and weave the branches every spring.

I didn't do anything as complicated as a chair. I would try to create loops by braiding two distant branches into each other and fastening with wire. Or I would take a long branch, and bend it back to the trunk, and braid it into a branch heading in the opposite direction.

The most difficult thing was not accidentally breaking the branches while braiding. Sometimes strong winds would create too much tension on the already stressed branches and cause them to break.

I did that for about 5 years before I sold that house. The tree is still there last time I checked, but I haven't gotten a close look at how it has progressed.

At my new house, I've tried it with a red maple, but haven't had much success. The branches that I've shaped end up dying.

Sharing this story makes me want to take up the hobby again. I've got some fast growing trees at my current house that I could use.

Edit: here is a photo of my tree (if you can abide imgur) https://imgur.com/a/PjwqWzo

This field is called Tree Shaping[1] and while it has been tried throughout history, I think there's still a lot of cool stuff that has never been tried.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_shaping

Couple of Australians have been doing this since the 90's - I think they coined the term 'pooktre' to describe the form - https://www.pooktre.com/

Searching `Peter Cook Becky Northey tree furniture` gets you some nice pictures of their work, as they don't just 'do chair' -- though I suspect plenty of people have been doing this in various forms for centuries.

I don't have a picture at hand, but on frequently used rock climbing spots, the young trees at the bottom, where the partner with the rope stands, can be very chairlike, too. I once asked myself why are they so conveniently formed, while leaning against one, but then I got it.

Weaving saplings and coppice sprouts and growing them in place is incredibly ancient, maybe neolithic. Julius Caesar was freaked out by the living woven defenses of the Nervi in Gaul. In general the deeper you go into the past the more people were aware of the possibilities of sprouting wood, coppicing, etc.

I've seen this couple discussed on HN before, although my searching abilities are failing me, I just found https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21051965 which is the same couple, but with 3 points and 1 comment, isn't likely to be the discussion I remember.

There's also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9344837 4 points 11 years ago, although the link is dead.

In Northern California there’s a small amusement park that has several of these. Haven’t been, but it’s on my list. https://www.gilroygardens.org/circus-trees/

There will rise a PETA like organization that will protest this. Probably call themselves the Lorax and protest that we're practicing colonialism on plants now.

All satire aside... this is pretty cool. And so are groups that look out for the little guy.

Isn't that cute.

I've been thinking since the 1970s that we'd decrease the 2nd biggest use of petroleum, plastic, using genetic engineering.

Many biological substances could replace plastic, such as chitin and cellulose.

But "lab grown meat", like "full self driving" and "artificial intelligence", is a name that's a giant leap of faith beyond the actual technology.

Lab grown meat is still only the flesh protean cells grown in a mold to look like a fish fillet. None of the structural components of the real thing are reproduced.

To use this tech as a structural plastic replacement, we'll have to reach the point of controlling the shape of the material as the cells proliferate.

Of course, before that, we'll have to overthrow the petro mafia's control of the US.

An issue of WET magazine (from the 1980s) profiled a similar operation. Always beautiful to see.

What species of tree is good for this?

relatively durable

relatively fast growing and amenable to bending and grafting

willow?

anybody ID those trees?

I'm sure he copied it from somewhere but this reminds me of Paolini's elves in Eragon singing (magicking) trees to their desired shape.

Your patience and creativity is incredible. I wish someone doesn't ruin it in the name of finding a modern fast pace solution

On the one hand this is pretty cool.

On the other hand ... those chairs look damn incomplete. Even the supposedly "finished" ones ...

I love the idea, reminds me a lot of gardening and growing fruits in special containers.

I thought the title was some kind of metaphor. Quite surprised at being a literal thing.

This feels closer to structural design using living organisms rather than architecture.

Talk about patience...

So elves in dwarf fortress.

Are they ergonomic?

Seems cruel towards the trees, for human enjoyment

I think these are very beautiful.

Imagine an alien species comes here and sees all this totally fucked up human centric thinking. They put fish in small fish bowls, for their own enjoyment. They deform trees for their own enjoyment... and the list goes on. Bleh.

Carpentry is dead