Thanks to all of you who shared your experiences and expertise and
responded to my query about binding dangling branches which were
partially broken due to winter snowfalls. The first response I received
was cautiously optimistic - although the warning that this was not
proven solution was clear and there was the problem of creating a
reverse taper. I rushed outside to repair the damage as best I could
using raffia rationalizing that there was some hope - if not too much.
Then, the following day, I read additional responses that painted a
less hopeful picture, some cautioning that the branch will never really
heal, and was likely to snap off at any slight provocation. Another
described mixed results depending on the species. In sum, based on the
responses, there is very limited hope for binding a dangling branch
satisfactorily for the future. Success is dependent upon on the amount
of branch tissue still connected. In retrospect, I should have waited
for all the responses before I did my repair job. At least if I had
waited until I read M. Persiano's reply, I would have had step-by-step
instructions on how to do the repair in the best possible way. Patience
is needed in all things, especially for bonsai.

With thanks to you all,

Carol Schroeder
Columbia, Maryland, Zone 6/7

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In retrospect, I should have waited
for all the responses before I did my repair job. At least if I
had
waited until I read M. Persiano's reply, I would have had
step-by-step
instructions on how to do the repair in the best possible way.
Patience
is needed in all things, especially for bonsai.

Patience IS a virtue in bonsai -- but mostly for its overall
development.

In your case, acting precipitously was necessary; if left to
dangle too long there would never have been any hope (never would
have been?) that the branch would repair (NOT heal) itself. The
cells that needed to grow together to create the mend would have
died. So haste did not make waste in this case. ;-)

I don't recall any of the replies being quite as grim as you
paint them. We all seemed to agree that trees don't heal. They
DO mend/repair/fix themselves by (in effect) growing a splint
over the break. The fact that you have to be careful with that
branch afterward because the underlying break is still there
should not be cause for despair -- just a little extra care. You
use clip-and-grow with that branch from then on.

In a year or so -- if you are careful -- you can wire the smaller
branches that grow out from this one, and you certainly can wire
the larger branch(es) that this one grows out from. That's not a
hopeless cause.

So, take cheer. All is not so hopeless for this tree.
ESPECIALLY if you used a little glue. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++