My house came with a dwarf Japanese maple, which was damaged last fall when we had our roof done. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the tree broke off when a bunch of roofing debris fell on it, as below:
I had assumed that the tree was a goner and was starting to think about how to pull it up and replace it this spring, but then I noticed that it's alive and budding:
Now that I know that the tree survived the damage, I want to help it thrive and hopefully look good again. So, two questions:
- Is there anything special I should do to help the remaining half flourish?
- How can I maximize the beauty of this tree's new shape? Can I somehow turn the odd shape and broken trunk into features instead of flaws?
If it's relevant, I'm in the northeastern US.