[3p0L0v3sU]

I know tornados can vary in strength, so lets say, what can survive an E5 storm? If nothing can survive that, what's the highest level of storm that can be withstood by a woody plant? And what are the specific kinds of plants that can do it?

[joypulv]

Not an easy question to answer because of so many variables. Type of soil, slope of ground relative to the wind, age of plant, health of plant and it's roots, whether or not the plant is in leaf or not (leaves don't let wind through, so are easier to topple). The owner must know how to water a new planting in such a way that the plant gets enough water, but not so much that it doesn't encourage deep root growth. LOTS of variables. A rule of thumb about large trees is that the faster growing they are, the shorter their lifespan, but that isn't always true, such as the Eastern White Pine. But like some other tall trees, it's longevity depends on being in a group of other tall trees.
Your local agricultural extension, found in the blue pages, will be very helpful.

I personally wouldn't plant based on tornadoes. I would go with what I like. My main rule would be no trees within falling distance of my house.

I lost several dogwoods in our last storm with very high winds, and my neighbor didn't. He fertilizes his once a year. I never did, nor do I think did the previous owner. Yet another variable. A healthy tree discourages pests from honeycombing the trunk. I've seen birches with birch borer that you could topple just by bumping into them with a car, and they fall to the ground in pieces. I've seen trees improperly planted in too small a hole and without working surrounding soil into the 'good' soil. The tree grows tall and skinny and when it topples, the roots are not much bigger than they were when planted. Overwatered trees have shallow, wide spread roots, and also topple easily.

[3p0L0v3sU]

I had an idea for a special kind of tree house. I was thinking with the right tree, aeroponic root shaping techniques, and soil, you could use tree roots to strap a shipping container to the ground, thus the tree is acting as a foundation. I think it would be a challenge/impossible in soft soils, but feasible in heavy clay soils.

[joypulv]

Holy Moly, talk about worrying about tornadoes. I presume you mean the metal type like Sea Land. A tree house is generally up in the branches, not strapped to the ground by roots!

Anyway, the tree I've seen that can hold down anything, as well as rip anything to shreds, is wisteria. The vines wrap around and quickly grow woody and just keep growing.... sounds like fun.

[tickle]

Why didn't you put your idea in your original post ? It would have garnered more feasible answers. Joy's answer would have been entirely different. And in what year would you want to do this? I doubt you would find a tree with sustainable roots to withstand holding down a sea land shipping container. Furthermore trees, unless they live in a swamp, would not react well to eroponics. And as Joy stated, tree houses are usually up amongst the branches.

Sorry your idea is flawed.

[smoothy]

I know tornados can vary in strength, so lets say, what can survive an E5 storm? If nothing can survive that, what's the highest level of storm that can be withstood by a woody plant? And what are the specific kinds of plants that can do it?

Enhanced Fujita Tornado Damage Scale

According to this... with an F5 the asphalt of the street in front of where your house USED to be... won't even survive in most cases, no house will either, neither will any tree and a shrub surviving it would be by pure coincidence

Surviving, and surviving intact can mean very different things. At some point the wind is going to be less an issue than debris hitting it carried by the wind. That's what most damage and injuries are caused by.

Surviveability would be directly related to the surface area the wind would be acting on...and the flexibility of the plant

They can take a LOT of damage before actually dieing....more than enough that you would cut it down because of how bad it looked long before it would actually succumb to it

As far as the other point you bring up...might take decades for them to grow large enough...then statistically low odds it would be subjected to what is needed to verify if and how well it worked.

In a large enough scale over a large enough area over a long enough period of time..your odds of getting proven results greatly increase.

I don't know if any computer modeling programs exist for what you describe...but its possible one could be created if it doesn't exist already.

[3p0L0v3sU]

Why didn't you put your idea in your original post ? It would have garnered more feasible answers.... And in what year would you want to do this? ... Furthermore trees, unless they live in a swamp, would not react well to eroponics. And as Joy stated, tree houses are usually up amongst the branches.

Sorry your idea is flawed.

1. frankly, I didn't put it in the post because I'm a bit embarrassed. I was worried someone would just write it off as "impossible" and I would get zero information on the subject. So, I framed the question in a different way to make sure even the skeptics would at least provide input.
2. what year? I don't know, as soon as I get my own parcel of land i'll start building and experimenting. Right now I'm only speculating. I know trees take a long time to grow, if that's what your getting at.
3.plenty of non swamp trees can be grown via areoponics. Figs and oaks just to name two. You don't let the tree mature without soil, you just sprout it and let the roots grow a bit, then you thread the roots into whatever shape you want and over time they harden and grow.
4. tree houses are normally up in the air, but who cares?
5.Pretty much all ideas are flawed at first. Just give me a chance to experiment, you'll see, YOU'LL ALL SEE.

n thankies 4 the input joy n smooth