The thinner tree was cut years ago and the big one has been holding and feeding it since then.

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21


Rebecca Herbert
@RebeccaH2030
The thinner tree was cut years ago and the big one has been holding and feeding it since then. They "wake up" together in the spring and "go to sleep" together in the autumn.
#Tiredearth #biodiversity

[sheshe2]

1. That is pretty cool, thank you.

[Demovictory9]

2. WOW... pretty amazing

[LakeArenal]

3. Nature. Love it.

[flying_wahini]

4. As a tree climber while a kid, I would have loved to sit in the 'box'.

The feeling of rapture when the wind blows…..

[markie]

6. yes!

I lament that so many kids don't discover the joy of climbing trees... one of my few joys as a kid

[Ruby Zee]

5. Amazing

I've never seen anything like it and my degrees are plant and tree related.

[Wild blueberry]

7. Love

Thank you.

[NurseJackie]

8. It's unclear if they are the same type of tree.

Would this even work with two different varieties of trees?

[RussellCattle]

9. I'm guessing that it would work with different varieties. Isn't that why grafting is used.....

.....to propagate cuttings of fruit trees onto more hardy or established root stock?

[soothsayer]

13. Thanks. Just went down a rabbit hole of reading about inosculation and conjoined trees.

Link to tweet

?s=21

Ria 0_o
@RiaLolwut
Thanks. Just went down a rabbit hole of reading about inosculation and conjoined trees.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inosculation…
And people who grow trees to graft them into elaborate designs! It's phenomenal.

10/10 would recommend this rabbit hole.

Inosculation - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org

[RussellCattle]

16. Thanks for the tip as I find myself, like you, again losing myself down another....

....wonderful "rabbit hole".

[Kali]

10. I suspect it was connected long before being cut

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inosculation

[Traildogbob]

11. Now that is weird

I am a tree hugging, retired Forest ecology educator, a member of the International Dendrology Society that does world wide tours to see trees. Spent a month 2 September’s ago touring Northern Cali Giant tree forests with Stephen Sillett, of Nat Geo Fame climbing and researching the giants. I have never seen anything like this. Thanks for sharing. If I may, I would like to share it with the IDS folks.
Trees can withstand a lot, but we sure as hell are challenging them now.

[BigmanPigman]

12. My mom told me her family grafted fruit trees

while growing up. I thought it was something my Italian family did for some reason. Why would you do this on purpose?

[cannabis_flower]

14. Wikipedia had a pretty good article on grafting

Look in the advantages section:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting

[BigmanPigman]

17. That has so much cool info!

You can make tomato/potato plants into one plant that is above and below ground. One tree can have multiple types of fruit too.

This guy made grafting into an art form...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Erlandson

[soothsayer]

18. Very cool. I bet he did talk to them.

[druidity33]

19. grafting fruits...

if you have an old apple tree that gives you spotty, not so delightful fruit, you can graft a few branches from a different variety. In some cases you can even grow pears on an apple tree. Otherwise, you can graft all sorts of other fruits in many combinations. Pollination is important, but otherwise it's an interesting garden/orchard gambit.

As for what's in the OP, that's more like training plants. When you espallier fruit trees against a fence or wall, you're basically training it to lie flat. Interesting images online of people making tree chairs and shelters from living trees trained into shape.

K&R

[Totally Tunsie]

23. My Dad used to graft our backyard fruit trees.

We had some interesting combinations growing back there with his love of mixing apples (several varieties), peaches, pears, and cherries. I always thought he was a genius, but then, it WAS Dad...

[BigmanPigman]

24. I always learn something new on DU.

Very clever dad! What types of hybrid fruits can be "invented" by grafting?

[Mrhyde719]

28. We too have grafted fruit trees

They do not create hybrid fruits. They share the sap but produce the fruit and leaves of the original sprig of tree. It’s a novelty

[The Mouth]

15. Some trees are better people than some 'humans'

[niyad]

20. The Ents are coming!

Down in FL, I saw two big oak trees, about twenty feet apart, whose upper limbs were completely intertwined, almost like an arch. It was a lovely sight. The property owner wanted to cut them down, said they could fall on the house. They would not, since the house was the other direction. I very politely told the idiot that it would not be good for his health to do such a stupid thing. He believed me.

[Martin Eden]

21. Thank you for sharing this!

Life finds a way.

[soothsayer]

22. Exactly. I've seen a branch sprout from a plank in a wooden fence

Very cool.

[pansypoo53219]

25. not the same, but a branch sculptor did one at the sheboygan wi art center and it sprouted. the only

one to grow it stood for several years.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

26. Cool. Reminds me of Axel Erlandson's Tree Circus.

https://oteromenswear.com/blogs/news/to-plant-or-not-to-plant-the-genius-the-genus-the-graft

[Faux pas]

27. Kicketty Kickin'

[keithbvadu2]

29. He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother

[catchnrelease]

30. Trees 'help' each other for real

I'm reading Suzanne Simard's book Finding the Mother Tree. She did tons of experiments to prove that trees, even of different species, will help each other with needed nutrients. In one experiment she showed that alders will send things like nitrogen to nearby fir trees and the fir trees will send others back to the alders. The transmission is done by mycorrhizae/fungal connections between the roots of the trees. Also so called mother trees will help their seedlings to get better starts and even when the mother is declining or dying, it will send more of it's own nutrient to the seedlings! Not just trees either, but most plants are connected by this network. It's really fascinating stuff. Nature is more interconnected than we knew.

Simard has a good TED talk too for anyone interested in her ideas and findings.

https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other