I've been pondering a shade house somewhere on the north side of the trailer for years. The idea is to have a cool spot for summer dining, mushroom growing, and seed starting during the hot season while still allowing rain to fall through the "roof."

But the idea has never quite gelled into a finished form because I'm not quite sure what I want to make the structure out of. So when I stumbled across the photo to the left from Pooktre Tree Shapers, a light bulb went off in my mind. Maybe I need to build my shade house out of...trees!

Building with living trees has a long history which may have begun with living root bridges in India. However, those of us lacking a tropical climate can't get away with using aerial roots for construction. Instead, we have to focus on temperate-zone trees that grow quickly and (hopefully) have the ability to easily graft together (inosculate) when nearby branches touch. Plants that commonly inosculate and might be used for tree sculptures include apple, almond, ash, beech, crepe myrtle, chestnut, dogwood, elm, fig, grape, hazelnut, hornbeam, linden (aka basswood), maple, olive, peach, pear, privet, river red gum, sycamore, willow, and wisteria.

Of these, willow is probably the easiest to use since you can root a willow cutting simply by sticking the twig in the ground. Plus, the resulting growth from the willow is malleable and extremely vigorous, making it easy to shape and quick to grow. Finally, in our wet soil, willows are bound to thrive, although I should mention those of you gardening in drier climes might focus instead on elm or plum. (As a side note, using fruit trees to make structures is enticing, but the maturation process will be slower and you'll struggle to mesh your sculptural needs with the plant's fruiting needs. In other words, this is one instance where I'd probably recommend against going for an edible-landscape selection.)

What have people built from living willow trees? Chairs like the one shown at the top of this post (although that tree is likely a plum), stairs, shade arbors, arches, pergolas, and the newly named "fedge" (a fence that's also a hedge because it's alive). I highly recommend this site (which is where I found the photo above) if you're looking for large-scale ideas, or check out this site for an inspiring array of willow fedges.

Now, before you get too excited, I should tell you that creating structures out of living trees is a long-term project that can take as much as a decade to fully mature, so you'll want to think through your plan up front and make sure you're willing to wait for the finished product. In addition, during the early years, you're committing to a summer pruning and training campaign much like the one you'd use on a high-density apple orchard. In general, you'll want to train the young growth into its final shape as it appears, then rub off new branches that pop up in the wrong spot during the summer months. After the sculpture matures, you'll still need to prune perhaps twice a year (which can provide a handy source of goat fodder or mulch for your garden).

I'm pondering starting out with a simple arch over our current mushroom station. A lattice of willows at the back could arch across and merge with two larger trees in the front to make a shady bower. Now I just need to determine whether our wild black willows (Salix nigra) are a good choice for tree sculptures, or whether I should splurge and buy one of the willow hybrids that are reputed to grow up to 15 feet the first year. Decisions, decisions....