Axel Erlandson was an arborsculptor, meaning he grew trees and shaped them to form ladders, towers, spiral staircases, cathedral windows, even chairs! Erlandson's passion for sculpting trees started out as a hobby for the amusement of himself and his family but turned into his life's work as his tree creations brought more and more attention from the public. Using a special set of skills, Erlandson started to sculpt things out of living, growing trees.
Erlandson opened his Santa Clara Valley attraction where locals and tourists could pay to see his “World's Strangest Trees.” The attraction was called "The Tree Circus" and opened in the spring of 1947. By 1957, he had created more than 70 circus trees. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not often featured Erlandson's trees and a 1957 Life magazine article gave the trees and the attraction more attention. After Erlandson's death in 1964, the trees and property was sold and became known as “The Lost World”. The Tree Circus lived in a road-side attraction outside Santa Cruz, CA until after Erlandson’s death in 1964.
There are ony 25 of Erlandson's trees still alive. Nineteen of these are being preserved in Bonfante Gardens near Gilroy, California. Bonfante Gardens recently changed it's name to Gilroy Gardens. The legacy of Axel Erlandson lives on at the Gilroy Gardens Theme Park. The plants are so important that the park has scheduled “gardens only” days, usually on Fridays, when most of the rides and shops are closed, making it easier to walk around and look at the plantings. The park usually opens at 10, but on gardens only days it doesn't open until midday.
Erlandson was often asked how he created such unusual trees. Unfortunately, Erlandson never shared his techniques. When people asked him how he created them, he simply said "he talked to the trees". Many believe he may have done just that.
Posted by: Christina Yu
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