Richard Reames developed a love of gardening and trees at a very young
age. This passion he learnt from his mother while growing
radishes and carrots in front of his house. Once he grew big enough he
started climbing trees and building his own treehouses and even built a
treehouse that became a clubhouse to him and his friends.
In his early college years he studied horticulture and botany. Later on
in life he worked for several years as a landscaper, where he developed
his knowledge of tree planting, pruning and irrigation systems. In 1987
He was was given some fruit trees which he then planted into a
circle planning to grow some kind of secluded space. Due to the local
wildlife of deer, these trees never managed to grow successfully. He
did some experimental grafting, with manzanita trees.
This
experiment ended when the
owner of the
property decided he wanted a
wider driveway and removed the trees. It would be a several years
before the idea of shaping trees again returned to Richard.
It was during the year of 1991 that Richard met Maya Many Moons.
Learning that he would soon be a father he went for a walk in the
forest, to contemplate what sort of career he would like to do, to
support him and his new family. His memories of photos of the Circus
trees of Axel N Erlandson revisited him. And he thought :- "Wow, what a
great thing to do: shape living tree trunks!" * This started him off
with
his
early experiments on bending trees.
He lived near the Tree Circus attraction and visited as a child. He started
bending trees into chairs and tables and symbols in 1993. Most of his
early trees where in pots. He travelled to various garden shows to display
and sell his trees. It was during this time that he wrote a book titled 'How
to grow a Chair - The art of Tree Trunk Topiary' and published it 1995. In
2005 he wrote and published a book titled 'Arborsculpture Solutions for a
Small Planet'.
For more information on Richard Reames and his shaping methods go
to arborsculpture.com
*Quote from the book Arborscuplture Solutions for a Small Planet.