Split a branch and chickened out today. When to wedge?

[Japonicus]

Sargent or Parsons. It is very prickly, more so than the 2 other Sargent juniper I have. Is from nursery stock back when
Too heavy for me to wire I used 2 guy wires on a branch that forks ~ 1" from the trunk.

This is the back side of the tree.

The front fork I did 1st and have left on. The back fork when I began torquing down sported a split that continued to increase over a 5 minute time frame.
At that point, I removed the guy wire on the back fork, and the fissure closed some but not much. Still it relieved some pressure at the split.





View from the front ^. Split is on the back side.


So after removing the back guy wire (sorry for the Sun streaks) from the back fork it is now elevated above the front fork.

I've done a very poor job developing this branch as this cultivar grows much faster than I keep up with + I used to pinch all my junipers
for keeping the main silhouette in check. Did not clean the upper portion of branches much either in the day.

What I hope can be done is wedge the branch down as well as strategically wedging maybe 30º up from the bottom to create
a touch of movement as well. If the wedge doesn't create enough movement a branch bender clamp may work. No idea where I stored the clamp.

When to do the wedge???

 

[leatherback]

What do you mean with wedging? You planning to cut a wedge out of the branch?

I think a picture of the full tree might be in order. To be honest, it looks to me like that branch have surpassed it usefull thickness. It is competing with the trunk by now.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Fork of branch going to front is too straight and uninteresting. Personally would remove.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I agree with @Potawatomi13 the branch is not suitable for use long term. The only reason you would keep it is as a sacrifice branch to create more taper in the lower trunk (letting it run freely for now), after which you would remove it and jin the stub.

There is always the chance, even on old bark, that a juniper will push buds at a pruning site, particularly in the crotch of a branch/trunk junction. If so, you can always decide then if you want to try to develop a new branch there, depending on the direction and location of the bud. But the current branch is no good.

 

[sorce]

I'd remove both. And 2 of the other apical "branches". For me, these are too large to be considered "branches", and quite misplaced to be "trunks".

I think beginning final branches on the apical 1/3 with the best movement is nicest.

Sorce

 

[bwaynef]

All of the force of the guy wire that caused the tear seems to be really close to the crotch, which explains why it tore where it did.

If you still want to do what you intended to do to begin with, put some padding over the tear (or put the wire inside a spline/tubing of some sort) and secure that area really well. Maybe w/ two wires/locations. Then move the guy wire further out (come up from a drain hole instead of the side of the pot) and pull the length of the branch down. That will spread the force of the movement along the entirety of the branch, rather than right at the crotch where you had it before ...and where junipers are weakest.

Or cut them off and start over. (Or graft.)

 

[Japonicus]

What do you mean with wedging? You planning to cut a wedge out of the branch?

I think a picture of the full tree might be in order. To be honest, it looks to me like that branch have surpassed it usefull thickness. It is competing with the trunk by now.

Yes removing a wedge to move the branch in the desired direction, and not just down, but off axis to bring it in as well
ie. instead of removing a 1/4" or so wedge at 6 O'Clock (underneath) to lower the branch, come up ~30º to perhaps 8 O'Clock.
Without measuring, the branch thickness appears ok to me, not competing at maybe 1/3 the diameter of the trunk.

I think the fork, now at 2 planes/levels makes it look thicker maybe?

This week I removed a good deal of bark on the main trunk (mostly from this fork down) as the moss and lichen was rotting the bark.
I left what I could, but that doesn't help with taper at all, so if there was any taper, now there's less.

What would be the best time to wedge out?

 

[Japonicus]

Fork of branch going to front is too straight and uninteresting. Personally would remove.

I agree with @Potawatomi13 the branch is not suitable for use long term. The only reason you would keep it is as a sacrifice branch to create more taper in the lower trunk (letting it run freely for now), after which you would remove it and jin the stub.

There is always the chance, even on old bark, that a juniper will push buds at a pruning site, particularly in the crotch of a branch/trunk junction. If so, you can always decide then if you want to try to develop a new branch there, depending on the direction and location of the bud. But the current branch is no good.

Indeed I did not style this branch well.
Let's start back at last repotting when I should have tackled the direction of the shoots I left
to demonstrate possibly, how this could have been handled better.

Is this a Shimpaku?

Sorry another ill documented if not the worst documented of all my bonsai. I'm pretty sure this came from Lowes when they used to carry decent 1-3g landscape plants here. Anymore not so much. I'm sure I would remember seeing Shimpaku on a label/tag but this one escapes me. It does have a...

www.bonsainut.com

Post #1 and #15 picture what I could have done but did not.
The straight branch has shoots growing in a direction that should have been embraced.
Still there, but if I remove what is blocking the trunk view now, that is the most interior growth on the branch
so more and more leggy if it is removed.

I never get back budding on old wood on this one except at crotches, but not this far back yet.
@sorce In the thread linked above, the cut back that occurred some time prior to potting up was intended to chase growth back
which I am still underway at doing so, hoping to build strength on interior shoots before cutting back to them entirely
rather than all at one go of it leaving sap flow to some exterior growth. I like to think I can do better than how this was handled
2-1/2 yrs ago.

But the current branch is no good.

Yup but, there's no opposing or opposite side branch where that long jin is. No plans for literati.
This is the grounding lower branch that remains, so I've began working on it, albeit a bit late to the party.
This is one of my trees that would benefit greatly one on one with a master.
I have no clue as to why the opposing branch was jinned whenever I jinned it.
It was up a level and both of these at the outside of a bend.
I would have less qualms removing this forked branch if the opposing branch were still there.

 

[Japonicus]

I'd remove both. And 2 of the other apical "branches". For me, these are too large to be considered "branches", and quite misplaced to be "trunks".

I think beginning final branches on the apical 1/3 with the best movement is nicest.

Sorce

I began working on the apex last year a little bit, and some more this year...a little bit.
There's a good difference since it was repotted in the apex. Now that it has recovered well from repotting
and some cut backs, I am ready next year to go at it more aggressively. Thought I could angle the branches down some
so here I sit broken hearted, paid a dime...and it split LOL!
These faster growing junipers get away from me so easily.

 

[Japonicus]

All of the force of the guy wire that caused the tear seems to be really close to the crotch, which explains why it tore where it did.

If you still want to do what you intended to do to begin with, put some padding over the tear (or put the wire inside a spline/tubing of some sort) and secure that area really well. Maybe w/ two wires/locations. Then move the guy wire further out (come up from a drain hole instead of the side of the pot) and pull the length of the branch down. That will spread the force of the movement along the entirety of the branch, rather than right at the crotch where you had it before ...and where junipers are weakest.

Or cut them off and start over. (Or graft.)

Ok, here's a better picture of the wiring apparatus. The aluminum wires about the pot are buffered by the 1x wooden blocks
to displace energy concentration. The roots were not stronger than the branch, so I did not attempt to go around them.
There was a front and a back guy wire, both secured at mid distance (50% or more) out the length of the branch
passing through tubing on top of each branch.

Location of the copper guy wire is equivalent to passing through a drainage hole.
Actually, on the branch length, it is 2/3 of the way out as far as between the trunk and the end of usable wood for anchoring is concerned
(new shoots not included, not usable wood).
It is pretty strategically located really, not to break the shoulder and thought it might actually "rainbow" arc down.

Grafting sounds like a best idea at this point. There seems to be plenty of top growth to use,
however I don't have any experience with grafting. This is where the tree would benefit greatly in the hands of a master.

Could you elaborate on "cut them off and start over"? Like in chasing growth back?
That's actually where I'm at now. I get good response from this type of juniper cutting back hard in early July.
I had planned on reducing the apex by over 50% next year.