Pleaching Trees Photos

Pleaching Trees Photos

Here are some strange trees created via the process of pleaching -- weaving saplings into forms that force the tree to grow in a desired pattern.

Photos are courtesy of Richard Reames, author of the book Arborsculpture - arborsmith.com
[Site via wohba.com]

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Elephant Proof Treehouse Cafe

Elephant Proof Treehouse Cafe

(Article repost from NewKerala.com)

Jumbo frightened Kerala woman sells tea from a tree

Wayanad (Kerala), July 20 : For many people the idea of living atop a tree may sound adventurous, but for a 50-year-old woman it was compulsion.

Nibisha, who runs a teashop on the national highway that passes through the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, was driven up a tree by rampaging wild elephants.

Nibisha has been living in a tree house built at a height of over 30 feet for the past twenty years.

After elephants in the forest damaged her shop a couple of times, forest officials advised her to make a house on a tree to avoid further attacks by the jumbos.

Tribals helped her to build the tree house, using bamboo, grass and wood.

Babu, a lorry driver, said that the treetop ta joint was a popular one, and added that he was yet to see another like it in any other state.

Nibisha says she used the earnings from the tea shop to bring up her three children.

Although her children are now well settled and have asked her to live with them, Nibisha refuses to leave her teashop and tree house.

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Wanna Wife Swap Your Life in a Treehouse?

Wanna Wife Swap Your Life in a Treehouse?

ABC Television's reality show, Wife Swap, is conducting a National Casting Search to find treehouse moms to feature on the current season of the show.

Wife Swap is a family show on ABC primetime. The premise is simple: two moms from two very different families get the opportunity to swap lives (but not bedrooms - everyone has their own!) for a week to experience what it's like to live a different lifestyle - and to see what they can teach each other about their own lifestyle!

The Producers of the show want to feature a family who lives in a tree house, in hopes of shattering any common misconceptions of what family life in the trees might be like! They want to hear from families, the bolder and more adventurous the better, with 2 parents at home and school aged children (6-17) who are interested in sharing their lives for a week.

As an added incentive, each family that tapes an episode of Wife Swap receives compensation for their time. If you know of a family, or have a family yourself, with made for TV personalities e-mail me and I will forward your information on to the Casting Producer of the show!

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