cut it off properly below the break.. and be done with that part ..

with no insult to the root mass... you should have some great growth this year ...

that wood will NOT heal.. like a broken bone ... so amputate it ...

by late fall.. you might want to train one of the new branches upright.. to gain some height.. from which it can then go down again ...

if you find any suckers from down below.. growing straight up.. those will need to be removed.. to maintain the weeping plant ...

ken

Honestly looks like it should be removed and replaced, but if you must give it a try you should make a smooth but angled (sloped for drainage) cut above the two remaining side branches. It may last for a while. Good luck with that!

if i would replace every plant that has snow load damage.. i would be broker than i am ...

there is absolutely no reason to replace it ... there are plenty of branches left ..

ken

If you want to nurse it back over the next five years training a shoot below the break (there are a few tiny ones I see on the lower part of the main trunk... then do. Otherwise, get another one. The two guys above have laid it out for you.

May I guess if that is a 'Crimson Queen' Acer palmatum? If yes, you'll be able to find a few dozen at any home improvement store this spring, or, this summer/fall when they go on clearance.

Dax

If you really want to "try" to save it, I've had luck with hose clamps and those rubber mats you can put in sinks. Over the course of a handful of winters, after heavy snow loads we've had some large branches from Japanese maples rip. I try to pair up the two ripped sides as best I can and then wrap with a strip of the rubber mat and clamp it with a hose clamp. I usually have to leave it that way for a couple of seasons, loosening the hose clamp a bit based on how the tree is growing. We have saved many, many large branches this way as opposed to digging out the trees. Just picked up the hose clamps this weekend in fact to take care of two large maples that have some major splits. Many of my maples are still buried but I'm sure there's more damage under there based on the snow we had this year. Based on prior results, I have reasonable hopes for some success.

That being said, if you can get to the maple during the winter it is best to keep it dug out and free from snow. We had a few huge dumps of snow back to back to back this winter and it was hopeless to try to keep up. I knew it wouldn't be pretty once the thaw began. Most winters we keep up with making sure all the maples are free from snow.

IMO, the hose clamp idea is simply horrid! As stated by most others above, either replace it or properly (at least as much as is possible) prune out the damaged limbs/trunk. Hose clamps are NOT NOT NOT the way to "fix" a tree!

I'd simply prune off the broken part and be done with it. BTW, no special "angled cut" necessary nor desirable. Some old ideas never quite die. Just cut close enough so as not to leave a stub, don't gouge into remaining side branching, and walk away. No asphalt/tar, no orange shellac, no fancy snake oil that the hardware store guy said you should use.

+oM

My red weeping japanese maple was no box store bargain. It came from a large reputable nursery and cost well over 200 bucks.

It lost two big branches just like the picture above. I figured- as Ken does- that it has a wonderful root system so there's no harm in pruning OR transplanting to a less visible spot and take advantage of the 3 years root growth in my own garden as well as (at least) several years before it got to me.

I think Susan's effort is pretty resourceful and I¨m glad it worked.

idabean

Thyme2dig, don't take my comments personally. They are only meant to address your proposal. And, IMO, using hose clamps to attempt to "fix" a broken branch or trunk is completely misguided and has a near-zero chance of working long-term. I hope it works (continues to work) for your tree, but the procedure flies in the face of reason if you consider how trees grow.

The wood inside woody plants is dead. It will never every grow back together no matter how you clamp the split together. The ONLY way that the tree has to bind itself back together is if new wood is used to encapsulate the break. For this to have any chance of working on Lyssa's tree, it would require years and years of growth and a significant increase in trunk diameter. As the trunk grows in diameter, the crown of the tree would get larger and heavier. Even in an ideal situation, the area of the break will ALWAYS be much weaker than the rest of the trunk. As the crown grows, more and more stress will be placed on the broken area and chances of failure will increase.

When we consider the fact that the trunk will have to put on a significant amount of girth, the deficiency of the hose clamp becomes apparent. If the clamp is tight enough to support the break, circulation in the trees trunk will be cut off and further growth will be impossible. If the clamp is loosened enough to allow growth to occur, it will not sufficiently lock the two sides in place for the outer most (not wood) layers of the trunk to fuse. Also, a loose clamp will likely cause further damage as the tree is moved by wind, rain, pets, etc.

Like everyone else above, I think pruning or replacement are the best solutions. I STRONGLY do not suggest trying to save the top of this tree, but, if one was determined to try, there are MUCH better ways to go about it than using hose clamps.

Please tell us the better ways.

Brandon is correct here-and once again, it is an understanding of tree biology/physiology that is behind this. A new tree grows over the old tree each growing season-but hidden under the bark. In fact, a new layer of bark is laid down, this process happening in the opposite direction of the laying down of a new wood layer-each year. That is why bark that starts out as green (or greenish) and alive, eventually becomes this dry, dead stuff that the tree sloughs off. but I digress: Perhaps if OP had uh, "clamped up" the broken limb immediately after the damage occurred, such that cambium layer could be brought into contact with cambium layer, this thing could knit back together. But to think two now-dead areas of wood can somehow be made to fuse back together reflects again, a lack of understanding of what trees are and how they grow. Similar, I might add, to saying tree wounds "heal".

+oM

well the bottom line.. for what i presume.. is all of us ... IS .... DO WHATEVER YOU WANT .... crikey .. try anything ... its your garden ...

and if it doesnt work ... so be it ...

B is right.. in everything he said ... though he could be more politic about it ...

and Ts experience worked.. for her ... but i think the odds are long for others to duplicate the success ... [especially here.. where the damaged happened months ago .;. by this time] ...

no one ever learned anything new.. w/o experimenting ... so thumbs up for that success ..

ken

"Please tell us the better ways."

I almost hate to call this a "better" way, because I wouldn't recommend it in this case. However, an alternative way that might work (if the ripped branch is still alive/viable) is to use a small bolt and washers to fasten the trunk back together. You'd have to be sure the washers were seated against xylem rather than just tightening them up on top of the bark. This would be like a miniature version of rodding.

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"...though he could be more politic about it..."

Coming from Ken, I'll just say...WOW!!!!

WOW