Thanks for the good insights. Using weights is a good idea. With my willows, I learned to let the stems grow long and thin like they want to, and tie them down. Somehow the branch ends up looking more natural that way with a true arch.

Oxin, I think, is the fancy scientific term for the hormone inside of trees that suppresses bud growth. When the leaf or branch is cut, it gets all scrambled up inside the tree, allowing that part of the tree to receive new growth again. Sometimes pruning a dying tree can help restore life to it, especially if it's overgrown and has too much old wood.