And here's the wikipedia article that this was taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_shaping

I actually relied a lot more on the Gilroy Gardens' website :)

How did you do that subscriber sign-up box only on your archive page?

I first heard of this from the remarkable gardens of Peter Cooke, which can be seen at their website: http://www.pooktre.com/

And it also reminds me of the fantastic sci-fi novel by Leo Frankowski, Copernick's Rebellion in which the hero genetically engineers trees to provide housing & food for the globe.

It's an art project but there are upside-down trees at MASS MoCA

http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=29

By the way, this is from my daily "learn something new" email -- if you have any general feedback about the endeavor, let me know. Thanks :)