Axel Erlandson and his Circus Trees have fascinated people since the 1940s. Axel was very quiet about his tree-shaping techniques. When he would ask him, he would say “Oh, I talk to them.” There has been much conjecture as to how he shaped more than 70 trees into wondrous shapes. These trees would become a roadside attraction called the Tree Circus, the trees are generally known today as the Circus Trees. Some of the trees from him acquired individual names such as telephone booth, knot tree, cathedral, diamond, picture frame, needle and thread, basket tree, and many more.
Finding out how he did it.
Axel seemed to like working on a large scale using timber trees like sycamore and elder. Later in life he tried various other species of trees.
Old photos reveal the complicated framework Axel built to guide growth, photographs reveal some of its mysteries. Looking closely, a series of small-scale wooden blocks can be seen to guide growth around the curves. In one of the photos, he reveals the construction of a new frame that is added to an existing design to further guide the tree as it grows so large. He also used wooden spacers to support the design until the trees could stand on their own.
Axel practiced a gradual modeling technique. In his (Wilma Erlandson’s) daughter’s book ‘My father “talked to the trees”‘, she wrote: “When the stems of the trees were very young and flexible, he shaped them into the desired shape.” Wilma also talks about the role of framing in the process of shaping the trees. Instead of forcing the trees into position as she has been advised by a tree shaper, Wilma talks about the frame that holds the trees up. She quotes from ‘My father “talked to the trees”‘ “Then they were held in place by a frame for several years until they were strong enough to stand on their own.”
Modern tree modelers that use a gradual modeling technique are GrownUp Furniture and Pooktre. There is a guide on how to shape trees on Dr. Chris Cattle’s GrownUp Furniture website.
http://www.grown-furniture.co.uk/how-to-grow.html
Where are the trees right now?
Although outside of Circus Trees life, there has been a lot of media attention on them. They’ve appeared a dozen times on Ripley’s, believe it or not. They have continued to appear in the media around the world. Axel never trained an apprentice, this meant that as he aged and became more frail, he couldn’t take care of his trees. After years of trying to sell his trees, he negotiated to sell them in 1963. It was only a year later that he died at the age of seventy-nine.
After Axel’s death, the trees had a series of owners. Disney tried to buy them, but lost interest when he found out how much the owner wanted for them. During this time the trees were slowly dying from neglect. Robert Hogan bought the land where the trees lived in 1977, to develop. Joseph Cahill, a landscaper, gave Hogan $12,000 for the trees and gave him two and a half years to remove them.
Around this time, a young architect, Mark Primack, did everything he could to ensure the survival of the remaining Circus Trees. Mark received an art grant to draw and immortalize them as they were. He entered the property without permission to care for and water the trees. He became a fervent advocate of saving Axel’s trees. His campaign to have the trees recognized as a historical or cultural resource failed. Mark remains interested in the Circus Trees and the potential they represent. He is considered the leading authority on Axel Erlandson trees in the world today. On Mark’s website there are some pictures of Axel’s trees.
Finally, in 1984, Michael Bonfante stepped forward to buy the trees for a horticulture amusement park. He moved 24 trees to the new location in Gilroy, which was called Bonfante Gardens Theme Park. Where they are happily flourishing and open to the public today. Bonfante Gardens later changed its name to Gilroy Gardens.
Wilma Erlandson’s My Father book “Talked to trees” is available at Gilroy Gardens.
To view photos of Axel’s trees, go to this site http://www.markprimack.com/pages/tree_circus/tree_circus.html
History of the Tree Circus by Axel N Erlandson and some other interesting trees.