content: They grow like that with careful pruning and the use of lines to pull/train branches to grow in the preferred direction.  Bonzai tree faggots use the same techniques on a smaller scale. You can get all kinds of plants to do this provided they're healthy &hardy enough, and the grower is patient & diligent enough to make it happen.  It's usually a bad idea to plant things that close to a building though because the roots will fuck up the foundation.  I'd guess that the plants in the pic are some kind of vine rather than a tree, and the reason the "trunk" looks so woody and tree-like is just because it's old.