I know nothing about this topic, but how about Rose of Sharon? If you don't have any, anyone with one will be able to give you lots of babies. Maybe you could braid together some different colors. I could be wrong, but it seems like they would be smaller in caliper than some of the other trees you mentioned and would therefore, last longer. Good luck and how about sending some of those dogwoods my way? I would be happy to send you some Rose of Sharon in exchange!

First of all, when you braid young trunks together they will eventually graft together forming one trunk that will still appear braided and should continue to grow for many years.
Rather than use three separate saplings, it would be best to comb your property for one with three multiple trunks. This is quite common with dogwood and redbud. Either would be a suitable candidate. Also clump birch, Rose of Sharon (as mentioned), Armur maple, Amelanchier.

That is a great idea! I don't know why I didn't think of it. I have lots of rose of sharon in my yard and there always coming up eveywhere! Someone also wrote me and mentioned to use one that already has 3 trunks like a dog wood or rose of sharen since they will just graft together and keep on growing. I will probably try both and see how it goes. Thanks eveyone!! Tasha

Hi,

I would like to take 4 separate American persimmon nursery-grafted saplings (whips) and braid them so that they form a single, solid trunk bearing buds from all 4 of the original whips. Would this work? I want this to last forever (relatively speaking) - not just 20 years. I thought about taping them together, instead of braiding them, and I don't know, but maybe that would work (inosculation)...

?

Steve

I know this is really old but I'm gonna comment anyway, Wisteria ! Wisteria works really well for this. But only if you don't mind something that grows fast, REALLY fast. This stuff is almost KUDZU FAST ! Which makes it really time consuming and for wisteria to turn out right and look good you have to be willing to put a lot of time into it. I didn't mind, considering that you have to start out with little bity twigs basically and considering how Im impatient, Im glad I chose a faster growing tree. Well I say tree... actually wisteria is a vining plant. It can be a tree if you want to make it a tree. I cant stress "time consuming" enough and you have to really be committed. It can be out of control in a minute because it doesn't slow down, not in 11 years anyways. I guess it might eventually. Just be really sure or you could just chop it down I guess if you got sick of it, But you wont ! So that's the negatives about wisteria as a braided tree Now heres the positives... Its beautiful. I bought my house 11 years ago and the neighbor gave 4 clippings of wisteria. Actually not even clippings, 4 little branches that she broke off her plant, about knee high once I got them in the ground. Now days the braided part with no limbs goes higher than my head. The first limbs start at about 7ft. Ive let several limbs branch out and ive braided them into 5 or 6 braids going in all directions and at the end of those it just bushes out and goes all crazy. Its like a big ball or umbrella when all the leaves are in. So that's pretty big pretty fast and I butcher it at every winter. So that's that. That's how wisteria does as a braided tree in the yard. Its all up to really, how well it works.