Thank you, Adair. This sounds interesting and I would like to try. I’m having a little trouble visualizing the wood spacer. Would you happen to have a picture?
I can’t find a picture right now.
Start by placing the rebar next to the trunk at the base of the tree. Put some rubber (I would use some rubber salvaged from an old water hose) to protect the bark. Wire the rebar so that it is secure, next to the base of the trunk.
The trunk is straight, and the rebar is straight, right? They’re parallel? Ok, now grab the trunk, and pull it away from the rebar. The rebar stays being straight, the trunk curves away. Wedge a block of word in between the rebar and the trunk. The larger the block of wood, and the farther down you wedge it, the more the trunk is forced to bend.
At this point, you’ve forced the trunk to move away from the bar of rebar. The wood is separating them. The whole thing looks like a V.
Now, pull the trunk back towards the rebar. The block of wood keeps the trunk away from the rebar, as you pull the top of the tree back.
Pull so that the trunk comes back to touch the rebar. It should look roughly like a D, where the straight vertical line of the D is the rebar, and the curved part is the trunk.
You can manipulate how fat the D is by adjusting the position and size of the block of wood. Also, by adjusting at what point you reunite the trunk and rebar up higher. The higher to tie them back together, the less severe the bend. If you want a severe bend, make the junction of rebar and trunk closer to the block of wood. The trunk and rebar would cross at that point. Tie them together with wire, being careful to pad with rubber.
