the tree or 40 fruit is a single fruit
tree that grows over 40 different types
of stone fruit including peaches plums
apricots nectarines cherries and almonds
the idea came from just sort of a
fascination with the process of grafting
when I had seen it done as a child it
was dr. Seuss and Frankenstein and just
about everything fantastic I started
traveling around Central New York in New
York State to look for different
varieties of stone fruit eventually I
was able to find these different
heirloom and antique varieties but they
are very rare so it would bring them
back here to my nursery graph them onto
a tree so that I could continue to use
them now I have a huge collection of
plums and apricots through the project
I’ve I’ve worked with a lot of growers
and at first they didn’t understand it
because they were why would you want to
have a tree with that many different
fruit on it you would have to go back
over and over to continue to harvest all
the fruit the project is for me always
an art project I was really interested
in the idea of a hoax in terms of you
know hoax transforms reality part of the
idea for the tree of 40 fruit was to
plant them in locations that people
would sort of stumble upon once they
happen upon one of these trees they
would start to question why are the
leaves shaped differently why are they
different colors and then in summer when
you would see all of these different
fruit growing on them and of course in
spring when they blossom different color
it is an artwork when I first started I
just sort of crafted the branches on so
each variety blossoms at a slightly
different time and I had a tree that
blossomed all on one side but looked at
on the other from that point I created a
timeline of when all of these different
varieties blossom in relationship to
each other so I could essentially sculpt
how the tree would blossom for each of
the trees I keep a map essentially or a
diagram of the tree yeah it takes a
really long time I start a tree and I
let it grow for about three years and at
that point I can come in and start to
graft on to those branches there’s four
branches become eight the next year
eight becomes 16 16 becomes 32 it’s
essentially like an eight to nine year
process essentially what you’re doing
with this clear plastic is you’re
creating a greenhouse around the graft
and so what it’ll do is all that
humidity helps the graft heal in the
first tree is planted in 2011 and it has
the 40 varieties but I anticipate it
will be about 3 or 4 years before it’s
at that peak
and then peak blossom unlike any other
artworks that I’ve made these things
continuously evolved I think one of the
reasons why I’ve been able to keep it
going for so long is that every year
it’s something new and when you come out
here and the trees are all in blossom
it’s really kind of an amazing
experience
plus you get fruit all summer
tree that grows over 40 different types
of stone fruit including peaches plums
apricots nectarines cherries and almonds
the idea came from just sort of a
fascination with the process of grafting
when I had seen it done as a child it
was dr. Seuss and Frankenstein and just
about everything fantastic I started
traveling around Central New York in New
York State to look for different
varieties of stone fruit eventually I
was able to find these different
heirloom and antique varieties but they
are very rare so it would bring them
back here to my nursery graph them onto
a tree so that I could continue to use
them now I have a huge collection of
plums and apricots through the project
I’ve I’ve worked with a lot of growers
and at first they didn’t understand it
because they were why would you want to
have a tree with that many different
fruit on it you would have to go back
over and over to continue to harvest all
the fruit the project is for me always
an art project I was really interested
in the idea of a hoax in terms of you
know hoax transforms reality part of the
idea for the tree of 40 fruit was to
plant them in locations that people
would sort of stumble upon once they
happen upon one of these trees they
would start to question why are the
leaves shaped differently why are they
different colors and then in summer when
you would see all of these different
fruit growing on them and of course in
spring when they blossom different color
it is an artwork when I first started I
just sort of crafted the branches on so
each variety blossoms at a slightly
different time and I had a tree that
blossomed all on one side but looked at
on the other from that point I created a
timeline of when all of these different
varieties blossom in relationship to
each other so I could essentially sculpt
how the tree would blossom for each of
the trees I keep a map essentially or a
diagram of the tree yeah it takes a
really long time I start a tree and I
let it grow for about three years and at
that point I can come in and start to
graft on to those branches there’s four
branches become eight the next year
eight becomes 16 16 becomes 32 it’s
essentially like an eight to nine year
process essentially what you’re doing
with this clear plastic is you’re
creating a greenhouse around the graft
and so what it’ll do is all that
humidity helps the graft heal in the
first tree is planted in 2011 and it has
the 40 varieties but I anticipate it
will be about 3 or 4 years before it’s
at that peak
and then peak blossom unlike any other
artworks that I’ve made these things
continuously evolved I think one of the
reasons why I’ve been able to keep it
going for so long is that every year
it’s something new and when you come out
here and the trees are all in blossom
it’s really kind of an amazing
experience
plus you get fruit all summer
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