idk what's going on with the forum, but here's the text I intended to post with the pictures:

I'll make this brief since my first try to post timed out and was lost.

Non - ideal branching of weeping katsura, seeking pruning advice. It's 6' tall now and only 1.5inch diameter. That 3way branch is not good. I'm contemplating pruning out the central branch and hoping for the best that it will close up and be stable over time.

Although it has grown VERY vigorously this year (it's 2nd in the ground), the rough bark area in the pictures is almost hollow behind the bark. Chunks of bark can be pulled off. Will it regenerate bark underneath, or is this a bad sign of something?

Any thoughts or opinions?

You prb'ly could prune out the center branch, but would have to be very careful of damaging the 2 other branches. Hard to say where that damage below came from -- if the tree above looks healthy, it prb'ly can heal, but it looks rather serious. It kinda looks like a bend right there -- was it subjected to very strong winds sometime?

It hasn't been damaged onsite here, but I did notice it shortly after planting it last spring when it was smaller diameter (it really has grown fast this year). So it may have been bent damaged before i got it. I supposed there's not much i can do about that aspect but cross my fingers and see what happens, so more just curious.

The pruning is more of a thing I should decide what to do now... the longer I wait the worse it would be. I think I can cut it out without damaging the other two - even if I use a coping saw from my woodworking tools. I'm more worried about rot long term with it in that spot. But if I don't do anything - it's going to be a weird triple crotch and probably a problem in itself.

if you figure out how to take out the middle branch.. without leaving a stub.. you will do better than my 30 years of pruning experience ..

and if you leave a stub.. it will rot. and eventually the two left will fail ...

so.. think again.. and figure out a better way.. i cant really tell from these pix ...

can we see the whole tree ..

the lower branch is at a weak crotch angle. and it should probably go also ... ergo ..... leave the left one ... is my best .. GUESS and when that branch is 5 feet longer.. and that much heavier.. that crotch angle will fail... especially because its got rot in there.. from the stub you left ...

tree time is counted in decades.. and if it takes you 10 years to clean up this mess.. so be it ... this isnt something thats going to be gone this season... perhaps we call it.. your new hobby .. lol ...

ken

ps: your first hint of a real big problem.. is when you put down the pruning tools.. and start pulling out woodworking tools ....