Originally Posted by Salvelinus

Wow, that's terrific. So, to see if I understand correctly, you made a horizontal cut into the bark just above a dormant bud, seen in the second photo? Great technique, and it makes sense. Cut the flow of auxins that are inhibiting that bud from above by severing the vasculature that is carrying them. By the time the cut heals over, the bud is growing strongly and presumably a bit more vertical, which would reduce sensitivity to the auxins.

I'm going to use that in the near future. Thank you very much for posting!