first in a very, very long list

With the sudden (thank goodness) change in the weather, I've got a ridiculous list of weather-related damage issues to deal with.  First on the list is attempting to save the dwarf Japanese Maple that is next to the pool.  So many people have these tiny trees - and they could not handle the amount of snow we got this winter.  The weight of 3-4 ft. of snow piled on them for months caused many to have breaks on major limbs.  While they are common, and easy to replace, they are also very expensive.  There are many plants that I can't save (remember this) but I think I might be able to work a little magic on this one.

All varieties of maple trees run sap in the spring, not just sugar maples.  So I'm going to attempt to have this tree "glue" it's limb back on. Utilizing the sticky sap that the plant makes when it converts starches stored in it's limbs over the winter into sugar.  It's going to need a little help though...

Using green nutscene twine I pulled the branch back into place.  It's not pretty looking, but once the tree leafs out, you won't see it at all.  Of course in the process of tying it up, I realized there was actually a second, smaller break on another limb, ugh.  So keep your fingers crossed that my wacky plan works!!

break #2