Pedro Martin Ureta’s Forest Guitar Tree
It is located in Argentina and is composed of 7 thousand trees planted by a man in tribute to his late wife, for the love and versatility his wife had for music and guitar, the man worked years to create this work of art in nature in memory of the deceased wife.
Credits: IG Marco Guoli
- Argentine farmer Pedro Martin Ureta created the cypress and eucalyptus tree forest as a memorial to his wife Graciela Yraizoz who loved the guitar
- She wanted to design it herself but died before it could be created
Graciela tragically died in 1977 while carrying their fifth child before it could come to fruition.
So, after her death, Mr Ureta and their four children planted every tree individually to create the stunning wood.
The guitar stretches for two thirds of a mile and is so large that it has to be seen from the sky but Mr Ureta has never seen the full design because he is afraid of flying.
He started the project in 1979, two years after Graciela died. She suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm during her fifth pregnancy and died aged just 25.
Graciela first suggested the idea after flying over land and noticing that a farm looked a bit like a milking pail. Their son Ezequiel, 43, said his father was too busy at the time with work to take her plans seriously.
However, after she died Mr Ureta said he regretted not fulfilling her wish. Daughter Soledad told the Washington Post: ‘He used to talk about regrets, and it was clear he regretted not having listened to my mother about the guitar.’
He had no experience in planning a vast project of this nature, and so he taught himself through trial and error.
She said once they started the project all the children including elder brother Ignacio and sister Maria Julia, would line up three meters apart and plant the trees where they stood.
The family used cypress trees to create the star-shaped sound hole and the outline of the instrument and planted rows is composed of cypress trees to form the strings.
According to Conde Nast Traveler, his early attempts to get his newly planted forest to thrive were unsuccessful.
They had to replant the saplings many times because they were eaten by hares and wild guinea pigs. Pests specific to the harsh terrain of the Pampas attacked the young trees, destroying the saplings and setting the project back considerably. However, Ureta persevered, developing an ingenious solution to the problem. He surrounded the saplings with scrap metal, dissuading pests and allowing the trees sufficient room to develop.
Maria Julia, 46, told the Washington Post: ‘It was the closest thing possible to having my mother alive.’
Mr Ureta, now 77, who also has an 18-year-old daughter with his second partner Maria de los Angeles Ponzi, has never seen the full scale of the forest from the sky, he has seen the pictures.
Ureta himself is now a local celebrity, and his unusual creation has been reported all over the world. The impressive guitar-shaped forest has drawn international attention over the years. NASA has even captured footage of it using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (or ASTER)
Tree Weaver 