Went to visit my friend Elpiedio to take in the beauty of his old container grown maples as they drop their leaves and reveal the majestic branch structure. I was amazed to see how this tree has grown together, quite old and still functioning quite well. Removing the conjunction junction is not an option as you would lose the entire canopy.
It all happened naturally. He does maintenance pruning (pruning every tree yearly), but is too busy to take the time to train each tree. He has many old trees with great branch structure, many are 25 to 40 years old and he grafted every one of them, caring for them every season since. I can always recognize one of his trees at a nursery or garden center because of the character and great branching. It could be genetics from superior stock, Elpiedio's care over the years, Summer grafting, or since they are growing close together the branches curve and twist to compete for light. I am glad you enjoyed the photo. Thanks for your question.
I'm curious... is it still inosculation when it's two branches from the same tree? Very interesting phenomenon-- Inosculation - Wikipedia
I have a horrnbeam in a hedge that has a double trunk at the base that fused together in an elongated "8". Still too many leaves to post a convincing photo. I even remember seeing a photo of two totally different species whose trunks fused together.
