Cutting the branch off will ruin the vase shape of the tree. First, try sealing the cut edge. I just use brown spray paint on my oak trees. The point is to cover the break so insects, and disease can't enter.

i would .... and then decide if i like whats left of the tree .. perhaps give it a few years to respond ...

my bottom line.. is that i doubt it will encapsulate.. heal ... before it start rotting inside ... and as it continues to grow upward ... the rot will eventually cause further failure ...

whats left after pruning .... in tree time will probably recover .. since there is no insult to the root mass ... but to balance it all out over those decades.. further pruning will probably be necessary to balance it out ...

as i said.. this all happens in decades ... tree time ... so you will be looking at it forever ... and if thats going to spike your blood pressure every time you walk out there.. then just get rid of it now ... if this were out back on my 5 acres .. i could ignore it forever ... and watch what happens ...in your small yard.. i dont think i would enjoy watching the process ...

at a min ... plant a replacement.. so by the time you remove this one.. a new one has settled in and got growing ...

perhaps there might be a better tree for your area.. with potential ice storms ...

ken

I wouldn't consider any of your choices ideal for your climate and the potential for cold, snow or ice damage will just increase with the cleyera or the magnolia. Cleyera is also not ideal for a full sun location in a climate with summers as hot and dry as yours.

ken pretty much nailed it with this comment: "perhaps there might be a better tree for your area.. with potential ice storms ..."

I'd keep looking :-)

Agree with laceyvail - no sealing! That is not & has not been a recommended practice on a live tree for a long time. ! I disagree with ken_adrian only because if you cut this limb off there’s not much tree left as looks like major branches & limbs coming out. In that case you may as well take out whole tree.. Just wait until spring to see if that section leafs out. As long as there is cambium left unharmed to feed the branches left on that tree limb it has good chance. I had a Bloodgood Japanese maple tree that had the back 1/3 of it - a major branch like yours - ripped off in a storm when a huge Douglas Fir limb fell on it. The tear was easily as large as yours looks.. I left it alone - easy to do as the damaged side not visible from most of my yard. That ripped section weeped & seeped sap every spring for a few years but that tree did heal itself & put out other new limbs above & below the tear. I no longer own that house but my old neighbors have sent me pictures of its majestic fall colors as proof that it lives on in good health. So, my advice is - wait until spring to assess, don’t cut anything except obviously dead, dying or crossing branches.

Awesome, thank you for the comments!

Yes that branch is facing away from my house and I actually want look at it very often unless curious. I am going to leave it as it is, and monitor the situation.

I have been thinking about different tree/shrub options for where I have the blue point junipers sitting right now. ken_adrian suggested I plant another tree to hedge my bets on this one. I really like that idea. I think I will find another place to plant these $35 junipers. The trees at our local nursery run about $400 (installation another $240), but I think I would be a lot happier with something that I can enjoy now in that area.

Gardengal48, I think you may be correct regarding the magnolia. I went to the local nursery and viewed the little gem magnolias before and after the ice storm. I really liked the little gem magnolia the first time I saw them. I must say I was not very impressed with the little gem magnolia when I viewed it after the ice storm. I bet the damage would be even greater for a more mature tree.

KW, thanks for your input. I will be a little more relaxed seeing sap oozing out in the spring since you made this comment :)

Yeah, no Little Gems in ice storm areas. Snow, sure, unless you're prone to blizzards. Ice...no.

If you really feel you must have a magnolia, I'm also in Zone 6B/7A, and in ice storm areas here in Pennsylvania (quite common, actually, for much the same reasons as you get them). I have a Jane magnolia that does beautifully and doesn't tend to suffer damage as it's flexible enough to survive ice in excess of a quarter inch...it does so at least twice a year and has for more than ten years (and fifteen feet!)

I've been paid to try and clean up a 'Little Gem' of some yards in height that broke in half across a horizontal line because of a wet slushy snow load. I've also had all of the side branches of a young and small (maybe approaching 3' tall) 'Edith Bogue' I had planted at a friend's place stripped off by the same occurrence. Leaving the specimen looking like the Statue of Venus.

OMG - Embothrium! Your story made me recall my distressing loss. I had a beautiful Edith Bogue @ 20’ tall magnolia in my previous yard in house just south of Seattle zone 8 & lost it after a heavy & wet snow @20 years ago. This is an unusual weather occurrence there. Tree was evergreen thus the problem with heavy snow on its leaves which we tried knocking off to prevent bowing & breakage. Couldn’t keep up with snow then we had a temp drop & freezing rain. The top broke right off & we were left with a funny looking 12’ high & very flat tree. Arborist told me it would live but never recover shape. We replaced it with a coral bark maple- deciduous!

We had our pistache trimmed of some dead/dying branches, and all I can say is expect sap! It's been a couple of years and it's still dripping during hot weather!

The next door neighbor had his severely trimmed and it looks quite nice! Still sappy, though!

many of the upright junipers are the absolute worse for snow load and ice damage ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=juniper+snow+and+ice+damage&t=ffnt&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

there are many superb things that are possible.. if you shop outside of the bigbox offerings .. you will pay a bit more ... but it will be worth it.. especially since space is at a premium ... and everything is available in the mail ...

besides,.. junipers have a whole slew of other problems .. though i dont know if they do in your area ... like.. they get real ugly when they get big.. and they never stop growing .. but for the storm damage ... rust... tip death thingeejiggerbob ... its been so long since i got rid of them ALL ... that i cant even remember the disease name.. lol ...

ken

ps: go figure.. no spell check on thingeejiggerbob ... hmmm ... maybe cuz i spelled it wrong .. lol .. who knew ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=thingamajigger&t=ffcm&ia=definition

i must have just added bob .. as in bobs your uncle ... but i digress ... lol