bending living wood for cane handles

[Thomp]

i have always looked for the oddity in nature when hunting a stick for making a walking cane, the strange damage grown over or the strangled sapling by a vine, wind bent or some tree growing out of an inbankment making a 90 degree bend.

since the bending of saplings and letting them grow bent in pre shaped crooks has been the topic of some discussions here on the form i'm forced to leave this link now because i can never find it when were talking on this subject,

AMAZING TREES

i dont know how its preformed but this topic has been raised on occasion, on this link there is some amusing work done on living trees...

it can be done

[TUKLONITA]

I have seen this done with "Fruitless Mulberrys" but never with any other tree. I can remember when my dad was working in a packing shed West of Porterville, Calif, "WILLIAMS RANCH", during the war and they used China Berry trees to graft onto in their research for the better peach. I guess anything is possible...

[stickman]

That is what I would like to try . Thomas the link you posted didn't have anything but pictures do you know what the web address is ? I would like to see more or learn more about this.

[Thomp]

lots of info on google just search "amazing trees gilroy ca."

found a lot of links but nothing specific on how, it was a family secrete or something...

check out the botanical sites for tree grafting

[wade clark]

I think if you cut two trees, young, standing beside each other, in two lengthwise, tie them together, cambium to cambium, and if they're the same kind of tree they'll heal and grow together. I have two plums planted beside each other that I intend to graft in a similar crazy way this Summer. Ask me next year
Wade

[Thomp]

probobaly more here than you want to know

link click here

[whitecree]

Hmmm, I have some alder saplings coming up in back, maybe I'll go twist them around and see what they look like in a couple of years.

[Thomp]

i been thinking of planting 3 oak sapplins in a pot, so i could get the roots closer togather, then when they got healthy and well rooted to braid them, as they growed,
well maybe not oak becuse its so slow growing,
but you get the idea,
good potting soil and jobe spikes and weeding should have it root bound in one season if the thing is in a gallon pot or coffee can.. then transplant to a well drained spot.

dont know if trees work the same as inside ivy vines, bit i give my ivys a cup oc black cold coffee once a week, and a jobe spike once a month, with this continued over the summer the ivy will take over the room, so dumping coffee grounds might make the same effect on a strangling vine on a sapplin.

in the louisiana woods, we got a hard growth, olive green vine here that is hard as bamboo,(we call it trip vine)
if you gould find some of that and start it next to an early sapplin bout pencil size and tightly wrap the sapplin it should strangle the sapplin tree as it all expands, and impress a good spirial into the tree,
hummm,
bing! Idea thinking on this i got some really heavy copper wire i have, i took off of a replacment telephone pole. i used when i made my pole barn, with that inside a old cheep section of garden hose i should be able to bend or strangle one of them caltoba or sycamores that took over my garden.
i cant phisically garden anymore so ill raise walking sticks...
or at least experiment...