kompik

Yep, as those branches grow outward to "reach" for the light, the inner foliage will die off. In exchange for this you get increased thickening of the branch, and therefore the trunk as well. The longer branch is blown around more by the wind, and droops more from rain and snow loads over time, so it needs to thicken up to compensate; a close-trimmed, heavily ramified branch doesn't have these forces working against them, so they never need to thicken.

Remember that even though these long, untrimmed branches will be sacrificed later on, you can replace them with a simple thread/approach graft on trees that refuse to back-bud on old wood.

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