Sustainable Furniture – Pooktre Style
Can you imagine a world where trees wouldn’t have to die purely for mankind’s comfort? Well, if you follow the extraordinary Pooktre method you could achieve just that – sustainable living furniture.
Australian couple Peter Cook and Becky Northey are the founders of Pooktre Tree Shapers, which has given them the ability to change fantasy into reality. The couple met in 1995 and began shaping plum tree suckers into living furniture and art.
Peter started out as a jewellery maker and eventually in his late twenties, moved to the countryside and planted an orchid. Whilst working with the orchid trees, he pondered over the idea of growing a chair by shaping a tree. This was the beginning of Pooktre –the art of shaping trees into human-like art forms and furnishings.
Peter and Becky have chosen to contribute to the health of the planet by teaching others how to incorporate trees into their living environment. Pooktre is a perfected gradual shaping method in which trees are shaped as they grow along predetermined designs. These trees are easy to grow and with a little understanding of tree lore, can be a very satisfying pastime.
The Pooktre tree people are a fascinating feature of the Pooktre garden. The final location and use of the living tree people is undetermined, sometimes for years. Some are harvested and many become permanent residents in the Pooktre garden. The Hello Man Pooktre has become the mascot for the Pooktre Village.
It takes a number of years to shape and mould the trees into coat racks, tables, chairs, mirror frames, beds and any other ideas that Peter and Becky dream up.
The furniture can be made use of in the garden long before harvesting. The part I love most about the process is that the pruned branches of the trees are in most cases rooted and survive as living art.
Having mastered the art of tree shaping, Becky and Peter have found a balance and grow five pieces per annum. They now offer the service of helping others grow pieces on their own properties or commissioned pieces. Generations to come will be able to enjoy these beautiful creations – left behind by their ancestors.