sacrificial limb question

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As a noob, am I comprehending the sacrificial limb concept correctly? Grow for trunk thickness, but for how long? I have this River Birch with a lower branch I consider the sacrificial limb that is going crazy, and I'm wondering if I should let it grow willy nilly, or should I try and control it more?

ldrb.PNGPXL_20220627_010251903.jpg

On it's way to longer than the tree!
 

sorce

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Ought turn it into a plan B, specially with a birch prone to losing limbs, but B plans are always a good idea.

Sorce
 
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It's always a plan, a strategy, standard operating procedures and shoot & move, provide covering fire and watch your six, If your plan isn't fluid it's a rule not a plan.

I see you planned on ducking the limb question. & You changed your avatar.
 

19Mateo83

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I’m no expert and I could be wrong here, but to my understanding you let a sacrificial branch grow as vigorously as possible until it achieves your desired thickness. As long as it does not become the dominate leader there is no reason to trim it. A strong growing sacrificial = rapid thickening. You can also grow multiple sacrificials to keep the cut scars smaller and easier to heal.
 
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I’m no expert and I could be wrong here, but to my understanding you let a sacrificial branch grow as vigorously as possible until it achieves your desired thickness. As long as it does not become the dominate leader there is no reason to trim it. A strong growing sacrificial = rapid thickening.
Thanks. This is also the one I posted when I almost killed it ( username checks out) It may be growing differently after the resurrection. this happened 3-4 weeks ago for context. It's better now. :)

PXL_20220607_223859529.jpg
 

Shibui

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There's no one answer to how long a sacrifice should get or when to remove it.
Generally speaking leave them grow until the trunk is getting close to the thickness you want then cut.
As the sacrifice branch gets thicker the scar when you remove it will be bigger. Larger cuts take more years to close over. There's also the risk of rot setting in and it becomes even more difficult to close. I often remove sacrifice branches well before trunk reaches thickness if I am concerned about the size of the cut after removing it. My preference is to have several sacrifice branches spaced apart. Each adds thickness but being spread makes better taper and each scar will be smaller and heal quicker. Don't always have that option though.

Sacrifice branches can get several metres long. Often taller than the tree but there is a risk it will become dominant and the real tree suffers. If the main tree starts to look less vigorous the sacrifice is chopped - either lower than the tree or right off - even if it has not achieved full thickening. Better a skinny live tree than a fat one that's no use any longer.

Here are a few examples from my benches.

Shimpaku juniper
IMGP6265.JPG

Shohin sized Seiju elm
IMGP6281.JPG

Another shimpaku
IMGP6268.JPG
This virt shows the sacrifice branches that will be converted to jin (white) and the main trunk (blue)
IMGP6256_LI (2).jpg
 

rockm

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Birch are notorious for dropping limbs for no reason. It's a "pioneer" species that can colonize "bad" areas, like burn zones. It grows fast and is pretty resilient, BUT that comes with a price for bonsai. I'd be cautious about hard pruning and sacrificial branches with the species. Removing big branches could bring a response where the tree shuts down an entire area of the trunk and resprouts from the base...I'd remove sacrificial branching in sections, not all at once.
 
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There's no one answer to how long a sacrifice should get or when to remove it.
Generally speaking leave them grow until the trunk is getting close to the thickness you want then cut.
As the sacrifice branch gets thicker the scar when you remove it will be bigger. Larger cuts take more years to close over. There's also the risk of rot setting in and it becomes even more difficult to close. I often remove sacrifice branches well before trunk reaches thickness if I am concerned about the size of the cut after removing it. My preference is to have several sacrifice branches spaced apart. Each adds thickness but being spread makes better taper and each scar will be smaller and heal quicker. Don't always have that option though.

Sacrifice branches can get several metres long. Often taller than the tree but there is a risk it will become dominant and the real tree suffers. If the main tree starts to look less vigorous the sacrifice is chopped - either lower than the tree or right off - even if it has not achieved full thickening. Better a skinny live tree than a fat one that's no use any longer.

Here are a few examples from my benches.

Shimpaku juniper
View attachment 444156

Shohin sized Seiju elm
View attachment 444155

Another shimpaku
View attachment 444154
This virt shows the sacrifice branches that will be converted to jin (white) and the main trunk (blue)
View attachment 444157
Very helpful, thank you. That Seiju elm picture is crazy. :)
 
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