branch fork carving

[Shills]

Hi,

On a trident maple, I have done some chops on major branches and let some shoots (at least 2) grow from below the chop. The overall goal is that these shoots will grow to forks that look fine, but the problem is whether the original chop will be difficult to make presentable in the long run.
I have the thought that I can probably carve the split to be more presentable (please see the drawing to illustrate what I mean) but I am worried that I will cut and kill the forking branches.

My question is whether it is possible to carve in such a manner? Is it risky or inadvisable for any other reason?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[shibui]

There is no real problem carving out the fork of a trident maple. Provided you do not remove all connection to the trunk and roots below both sections will normally survive such carving. It is unlikely to harm the tree but whether you will achieve the goal is another matter.

Over many years of growing tridents I have also noticed the same problem when tridents are chopped to a pair of side branches. As the tree grows the area tends to callus and thicken which looks unnatural. Even when the side branch is controlled and the new leader is allowed to grow unchecked to give different thickness the fork still looks blunt and unattractive.
Your carving may solve the problem but nothing I have tried has produced satisfactory results so I do not chop like that now. I find that an angle cut leaving just the new leader gives far better results - red line on your drawing.

trident shills.PNG

The reason you have chosen to leave both branches is to have a side branch at the bend so I'm sure you are all now thinking that my method is not good because the tree will have no branch where one is needed.

Do not despair. After a hard prune like that tridents normally respond by producing many new shoots. A number of those shoots will grow from the base of that leader we have left - green lines. I now pick one or 2 of those and wire them as side branches (obviously choose some closest to the outside of the bend rather than inside!!) and remove others that could thicken the area too much.

This gives me far better taper through areas that have been chopped but still ends up with side or back branches where they are needed.

[Ryceman3]

This gives me far better taper through areas that have been chopped but still ends up with side or back branches where they are needed.

It also means that the angle between branch/new leader is acute (orange in below image) not obtuse (yellow) which is also a better, more natural looking result than the original image, and you get more interest in the branch/trunk through a change in direction. There's a lot of reasons to go down this path!

trident shills.jpg

[Shills]

Okay. thanks for that information guys. I think I shall follow your advice.
Is it too late in the growing season to do the angular cuts you describe? I'm in Sydney and growth is definitely starting to slow down.
Thanks

[shibui]

I prune at all times of the year.
It will obviously not heal as quick while the tree is dormant but it is probably going to take a couple of years or maybe more to heal over anyway so I think there is little difference between starting slow then speeding up in spring or the other way round.
I do prefer to use some sort of sealer or wound putty on cuts larger than 1cm diam. I'm pretty sure it reduces dieback of bark around the cut and speeds up the rate the cambium rolls over the wound. I actually have some trials happening this year to verify (or disprove) this.