Novel idea: Furniture that is grown, not made

Alice Munro training and pruning tree branches as they grow on specially constructed inverted frames to produce chairs at the 'Full Grown' plantation site near Wirksworth, central England. Photos: AFP/Oli Scarff

[caption id="attachment_118738" align="alignright" width="300"] A prototype chair, grown and shaped by artist and furniture maker Gavin Munro. Photo: AFP/Oli Scarff[/caption]

Deep in the English countryside, there's a bizarre sight: rows of trees being grown into upside-down chairs, slowly taking shape over years of careful nurturing.