I appreciate all the feedback! And will start implementing your ideas. Everyone presented something I can use and that is what I wanted, so thanks.
Lol!! These are not MY ideas! I will share some of my experience:
This is a green Atlas Cedar. It back buds easier that your Blue, so you have to be even MORE vigilant!
I took all the old wire off about a year ago, and did a hard cut back. To shorten limbs and induce back budding. At the point where this picture was taken, I’ve now further refined by cutting back and wiring the bottom half of the tree. I’ve actually completed 2/3 of the work as the top “half” is smaller that the bottom. I always start at the bottom and work up.
Long ago, this tree was as straight as yours! Wire was applied (the scars still show) to induce curves in the trunk. The scars will show until it started to develop rough bark. It should start doing that in about 5 years or so. If you want any curves in your trunk, do it NOW! It will take very heavy copper wire (don’t even THINK about using aluminum with Atlas Cedar) and some blocks of wood and rebar. Maybe a jack.
Now take a look at one of my branches. This is the start of a pretty well developed pad:
Some things to notice: my trunk is curved. So, the center line of my branches should be curved, too. Too often, I see curved trunks on trees with straight branches. Straight trunk, then you can have straight branches!
Next, you see taper in the center line of the branch. This was achieved by letting the branch grow long, then cut back. Grow long, cut back.
And then you see longer sub branches closer to the trunk, and shorter ones out near the end of the branch. This gives the pad a triangular shape when seen from above.
And finally, all along the main branch, there is the occasional “top branch”. As these grow, they get wired to follow along the same path as the main branch. One day in the future, the main branch will just get too long. I will be able to cut back to one of these “top branches” and it will replace the old main branch.
So, to get a nice sustainable pad working, I choose sub-branches carefully, making a left-right-left-right pattern, putting branches on the outside of curves, developing taper. Occasionally allow a top branch . Remove branches that try to grow down, or come from the bottom of a branch.
Wire is essential! And choose a heavier gauge when wiring these than normal because they are very springy, and it takes a very long time for the curves to set.
On the picture of the branch you posted, the tree showed you that it wants to make a pad of baranchlets. Problem is, that pad is happening out at the end of a long branch, and there is no taper in that branch! The good news is that branch still has small little buds and tufts of foliage back there. Those buds and tufts will form pads if you cut back the leader(s) on the end of the branch. But they won’t if you don’t.
So, the point of all this is you have to start cutting back to develop taper. And induce back budding. You can’t just let it grow, and think you can style it once the trunk gets fat. If you do, you’ll have a telephone pole trunk, with long taperless branches with no foliage until the ends of the branches!
No, these have to be cut back rather hard. But they are very responsive! They will backbud very well!
Rather, I should actually say they will grow from their backbuds very well! As they grow, send out new spring shoots, every half inch or so, they’ll develop a pair of buds. And the Center shoot just keeps growing. Another 1/2 inch, another pair of buds. And so on. Sometime around early to mud summer, you can cut back to one of those pair of buds. If you want a longer branch, choose a pair further from the trunk. If you want to keep the branch short, you can cut back to a pair closer to the trunk. That bud(s) will then take over and start to grow to be the new leader. Don’t cut back to bare wood. That branch will die. You can only cut back to buds.