Mike Lyle wrote:

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from David Rance contains these
words:

Also, I would mention that there are masses of saplings all around
the tree. Would the tree originally have grown from a bunch of
acorns
(either planted by a human or a squirrel), or would they have been
planted as saplings?

I'd go for planting as a ring of saplings.

The 'bundle' technique doesn't require a ring, just (apparently)
literally a bundle of rooted cuttings or, perhaps, a handful of seeds
planted in a single hole. Start planting rings of things and you're into
plant sculpture.

Technical query. If a tree were coppiced early in life, might the
shoots not grow together in the same way if subsequently left alone?

I don't know. All the coppice stools I've seen have been the result of
many years of coppicing. You'll have to try it :-)

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.