"A tree is a wonderful living organism which gives shelter, food,
warmth and protection to all living things. It even gives shade to
those who wield an axe to cut it down" – Buddha.
There are probably hundreds of majestic and magnificent trees in the world – of these, some are particularly special:
Circus Trees
As a hobby, bean farmer Axel Erlandson [wiki] shaped trees – he pruned, bent, and grafted trees into fantastic shapes and called them "Circus Trees." For example, to make this "Basket Tree" arborsculpture, Erlandson planted six sycamore trees in a circle and then grafted them together to form the diamond patterns.
Basket Circus Tree
Basket Tree (Image credit: jpeepz [flickr])
Circus Tree with Two Legs
The two-legged tree (Image credit: Vladi22, Wikipedia)
Ladder Tree
Ladder tree (Image credit: Arborsmith)
Axel Erlandson underneath a Circus Tree
Axel Erlandson underneath one of his arborsculpture (Image credit: Wilma Erlandson, Cabinet Magazine)
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.
