jemmick- That sounds like awful good news to me. I was hoping given that it recovered so well that I could do the chop this spring instead of waiting. As you said though if I am in doubt I will wait. Thanks also for the book recamendation, sounds great.
juliet- of-oz- I guess I should have said this earlier but they are actually seperate at the base. It is hard to see in this picture but where the tree in front's flare to the right touches the ground the little tree's trunk is leaning out into view from behind. It has it's own root flare happening to the lef directly behind the the larger trunk. Perhaps rotating the front slightly counter clockwise would make this more obvious. I will take a peek when there isn't a foot and a half of snow.
Glad you like my plan for the tree. As for the scars that is news to me if I find info pertaining to this I will forward it to you.
Thanks