There is a branch on one of our black walnuts in our front yard (7" DBH, 30' tall) that is growing out of the south side of the tree (6' from the ground), but instead of growing straight out, it is growing in an eastward direction. I've never encountered something like this before and not sure what caused it. When the tree is leafed out it looks like a well-formed tree. There are other similarly sized trees in the area but crowding is not an issue.
I've taken a couple of pictures - the first is taken looking north (the blurry red arrow points to the branch), and the second is taken looking east, with the branch growing out of the tree at the bottom of the picture. The lateral branches growing from this branch are the only ones in the southern part of the canopy for the first 20 feet of the tree, so if I remove it the tree would look pretty ugly. Will this branch present problems in the future if left as is?
I've taken a couple of pictures - the first is taken looking north (the blurry red arrow points to the branch), and the second is taken looking east, with the branch growing out of the tree at the bottom of the picture. The lateral branches growing from this branch are the only ones in the southern part of the canopy for the first 20 feet of the tree, so if I remove it the tree would look pretty ugly. Will this branch present problems in the future if left as is?