I enjoy seeing these pictures of the varied color red barked Japanese maples. I'm doing something fun in my plantings with some very cheap 1 gallon sized SKs that I bought at my local Home Depot. I shook off a bit of the soil and planted 3 in a big concrete urn and braided them for a sort of winter outdoor ornamental with pansies at the base. Feeling wilder yet, I planted 6 in a line at 45 degree angles with the outer 3 on each side of an imaginary center line angled in and am training them to bamboo poles. Where they cross, I am tieing them together, after scoring, with rubber bands that will rot so they'll grow together. I hope to achieve a red gridwork with about 2X2 squares in the grid and I plan to let them go up after 2 intersections at about 6-7 feet. The spacing is 30 inches and the overall garden living sculpture will be 15 feet long roughly. Naturally I trimmed off the side branches. Any sage advice? I know I'm out on a limb, but it's fun and they were only 7.50 apiece. Ellen
It came to mind to try something unique in our yard. Was thinking of bending 3 purple beech inward to graft the tops together for a raised central stem. Not sure yet. I have to be positive that none of them will be removed in the future. When we lived in southern Oregon a couple of years back, I noticed that a local man who does arborsculpture, was located barely 20 minutes east in Williams. In Applegate Valley. He's been at it for a long time.
The 15 foot row sounds a little like pleaching, I don't know if this term is well known in the US, but if you look it up you might find some inspiration and tips. (Forgive me if I am telling you something you already know). You still occasionally come across rows of pleached limes (linden not citrus) here in England, but it is not as popular as it was a few hundred years ago as it is a labour intensive process. It looks particularly effective when planted either side of a path or walkway. If done appropriately the structure looks good without leaves - the nicer the bark looks in winter the better so 'Sango kaku' should be a good choice. I've often seen japanese maple branches graft together naturally where they touch, you shouldn't face any technical problems in this respect. Good luck and please post some pictures, it would be interseting to see your progress.
