Red Maple help

[newshoot3]

Hi everyone! I was in here a while back with a maple that I thought I had "drowned". The good news is, my little friend has survived and is getting used to full sun as his tiny little new leaves are poking out! I'm amazed and pray that I can be so resilient (sp?)

Anyway! The main leader was toasted with the overwatering and new sun dosage. It broke off right where there were 2 branches - one on either side. I think maples tend to like to split and I've read that you really have to stay on them to keep 1 strong leader and nice vertical growth. What should I do to make sure that this tree doesn't "bush out" at the top now that the main branch is a gonner?

As always, thanks for the help!

[valleytreeman]

Ok, now gently bend the two branches upright and tie them together wityh some plastic flagging. By mid- to late summer they should pretty well harden off in the upright position. Select the one that is most upright and prune the other out. If you can tell which you want to keep right after you tie them go ahead and remove the tip bud out of the one you will remove later. This will allow the main new leader to assert apical dominance sooner.