Person Tree — Pooktre (Peter Cook and Becky Northey)
Shaped living tree by Pooktre (Peter Cook and Becky Northey), planted 1998 · Australia
Photo: Pooktre, uploaded by Blackash / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0), 2009; credit http://www.pooktre.com. The same photo as in the Street Art Utopia post. Full photograph shown.
Nothing on this tree was carved: Pooktre’s Peter Cook and Becky Northey shaped it as it grew, into two legs, two raised arms and a leafy head. LawnStarter, updated 29 Apr 2024 · Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 Checked The photo’s description says the tree was planted in 1998 and photographed in 2009. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons Reported
4 things to know
- Grown, not carvedLawnStarter describes Pooktre as gradual tree shaping, using training and inosculation, where trunks or branches of two trees grow together. LawnStarter, updated 29 Apr 2024 Checked
- An Australian methodAtlas Obscura writes that in Australia Peter Cook and Becky Northey, the founders of Pooktre, refined their own techniques for shaping trees into figures of people, chairs and mirror frames. Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 Checked
- Eleven years in the makingAccording to the photo’s description, the tree was planted in 1998; the photograph is from 2009. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons Reported
- Not aloneA second person-shaped tree stands in the background of the same photograph. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons Checked
Where it grows
- 📍
- In Australia, presumably on Pooktre’s own ground: the photo description calls Peter Cook and Becky Northey “the owners”. No source gives a public address or visiting arrangements, so treat it as private. Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 · Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons Unconfirmed
Sightings
- 2009
Photographed by Pooktre
- 201713 Dec
Atlas Obscura shows the photo
- 202429 Apr
LawnStarter credits the makers
Every stamp links to its source. The green stamp is the makers’ own photograph, dated only to 2009 (the Commons date field and the camera data disagree on the exact date). Amber stamps are later articles that reuse that photo; they are not new sightings.
On the record
A Short History of Tree Shaping
“In Australia, Peter Cook and Becky Northey, the founders of Pooktre, refined their own techniques for shaping trees into figures of people, as well as chairs and mirror frames.”
Introduction to Arborsculpture: Advanced Tree-Training Techniques
“Person tree created by pooktre inventors Becky Northey and Peter Cook.”
The photo caption, under this same picture.
The facts
- Title
- Person tree, the name on the makers’ photograph; no other title is given. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons · LawnStarter, updated 29 Apr 2024 Unconfirmed
- Makers
- Peter Cook and Becky Northey of Pooktre. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons · LawnStarter, updated 29 Apr 2024 · Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 Checked
- Planted
- 1998, according to the photo description. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons Reported
- Method
- Gradual tree shaping as the tree grows. LawnStarter, updated 29 Apr 2024 · Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 Checked
- Place
- Australia; the exact site is not given. Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 Unconfirmed
- Status
- Photographed in 2009. Later articles reuse that photo; we found no newer dated picture. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons · Atlas Obscura, 13 Dec 2017 · LawnStarter, updated 29 Apr 2024 Checked
- Our photo
- Pooktre, uploaded by Blackash with the owners’ permission (confirmed by Wikimedia’s volunteer team), CC BY 3.0. The description says summer 2009; the date field gives 20 May 2009 and the camera data 7 March 2009. We lean to the camera date: 7 March is late summer in Australia, the camera time (20:31) fits the night shot, and 20 May 2009 is the day the file was first uploaded to Wikipedia. Pooktre / Wikimedia Commons Conflicting
Related
- People Made of Plants (10 Photos): the SAU collection with the person tree
All sources (4)
Artist
- Wikimedia Commons: “Person-tree.jpg”, photograph from http://www.pooktre.com, uploaded by Blackash with permission from Peter Cook and Becky Northey, CC BY 3.0. “This photo was taken in summer of 2009 and the person tree was planted in 1998.”
Press
- Atlas Obscura: “A Short History of Tree Shaping”, Sarah Laskow, 13 December 2017. Peter Cook and Becky Northey, founders of Pooktre, in Australia; the photo captioned “A Pooktre.”
- LawnStarter: “Introduction to Arborsculpture: Advanced Tree-Training Techniques”, first published 24 December 2019, updated 29 April 2024. The person tree credited to Becky Northey and Peter Cook; Pooktre as gradual tree shaping.
Street Art Utopia
- Street Art Utopia: “People Made of Plants (10 Photos)”, 20 October 2026. The SAU post with this work.
Artwork File · Last checked 20 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files