Unusual Grafted Trees

As a hobby, bean farmer Axel Erlandson shaped trees - he pruned, bent, and grafted trees into fantastic shapes and called them "Circus Trees."

For example, to make this "Basket Tree" arbor sculpture, Erlandson planted six sycamore trees in a circle and then grafted them together to form the diamond patterns.

Erlandson was very secretive and refused to reveal his methods on how to grow the Circus Trees (he even carried out his graftings behind screens to protect against spies!) and carried the secrets to his grave.

The trees were later bought by millionaire Michael Bonfante, who transplanted them to his amusement park Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy in 1985.

Since then, many other cool grafted trees have been created.

Cool huh?

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