{{gwi:424662}}
These nubs have been on my junipers since I bought this property, so probably 15 years. Normally I'd use a pruning saw and cut them off. But these junipers are a bit gnarly and getting a saw in there is difficult which is why there are nubs in the first place. I could cut back the nubs a bit, but there would still be nubs. They've bugged me for years and had planned on removing these junipers because of this. Recently I've been learning some Japanese gardening techniques and the concept of making trees look older and some other things. I'm not really into Japanese gardening techniques but it has instilled a desire to raise my standards some.

So today I go out with my saw and am bound and determined to remove these nubs (there are many more than this picture shows). About 2 seconds in and I realize it just isn't going to work. Can't get the saw in there properly and for sure I'm going to do great harm to the surrounding live bark.

The only thing I could think of is a chisel.

{{gwi:424664}}

I used a 1/2" chisel and was surprised how well it worked. With a saw you're limited to basically a flat cut, so even a proper cut is rarely perfect. But with a chisel I could sculpt the cut exactly the way I wanted.

{{gwi:424666}}

I was surprised by the result. The tree went from hideous to my favorite tree. The cuts should now be able to heal better and it already looks great, like an old tree.

I also used the chisel to remove the some small shoots on the trunk and it works way better than pruners. I put the chisel parallel with the grain to do the lease damage, little tap, shoot pops out below the bark. You'd hardly notice there was a shoot there at all.

I've since Googled "chisel pruning" and sure enough there is such a thing used in bonsai. That led me to videos on different ways to carve wood on a living tree including grinders. This is a concept I'd never concerned before and am now happy to have in my toolbox of tricks.