Have you considered purchasing the book, Knowledge to Grow Shaped Trees by Peter Cook and Betty Northey? As much time and investment it will take to grow a woven tree, the information would probably be worth the price.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pooktre Book

On principle, I grit my teeth at the idea of spending $32 on digital content (there is no physical book). I am not of the generation that expects all content for free, however, for a price like that I expect hardcover, or at least a hefty paperback.

Really, people have been performing grafts like that for thousands of years--Peter Cook and Becky Northey can't be the only ones who still know how. Isn't there some dry old British textbook somewhere?

I'll buy the digital Pooktre book if it comes down to it. *grumbles, kicks dirt* I'd just prefer something a little more old-school, I guess.

The basic techniques are what you mentioned in your original post. Some study of grafting techniques would also be helpful. Some plants are better adapted for the art; you can choose a proven species-such as the linden you are interested in--that has been proven successful. I am sure some techniques learned through experience both speed the process up and give a greater degree of success. Timing plays a part I am sure, as to suppleness of the tree and the growing cycle, and knowing when the graft is strong enough to remove the support. Proper spacing to allow for trunk growth should also be considered. But I don't think there are any secret, magic methods that doom the unwary to failure. The weave should be fairly easy to accomplish with your current knowledge, compared to the more intricately designed shapes of some of the artwork. Patience will be in there too. I wish you success and I hope you will share your progress during the process. This art form has long fascinated me, but I have never been in a situation/location that would foster such an effort. I have thought about it though.

[Which doesn't count for a whole heck of a lot. :-) ]

Bridge grafting is a topic you'd be interested in most certainly.

Dax