Apple tree branches snapped, how do I help them heal?

I'm back in the apples forum again folks. It was a few years ago now that my parents bought three apple trees to plant in our front and back yard. I originally asked how to protect the base of the trees from critters below the snow in the winter time https://permies.com/t/169202/Protecting-base-apple-trees-winter

Now I am wondering what to do about broken branches. The tree in our front yard gets a LOT of snow buildup on it as it's within a couple meters of our driveway. This year we believe it got a lot of snow buildup on it, which then froze, and the weight of it ended up snapping  two branches at their bases.





What is the best course of action here to help the tree heal? Cut the branches as close to the trunk as possible? Put some sort of cover on the wounds or leave them open? Leave the tree as is?

Thanks in advance everyone for your help here.

Personally, I would take those branches off.  I'm envisaging that you want the tree to grow into a healthy natural shape and be long lived.  When I worked on a fruit farm, we would bend down branches to increase fruiting and were told that it didn't matter if they partly broke, but those were small dwarf trees with a limited lifespan.

The branch has broken at the "collar" which is the best place for healing to naturally be stimulated, so I would just cut underneath each one to complete the severance without it tearing down the trunk.  I would not apply any wound dressing.

I agree about taking the broken branches off. If this happened with snow, it will likely happen again if you try to get them to re-seal. Part of the problem is the angle of the branch to the tree. It's about 90 degrees which can create a lot of pressure on the joint when there's weight on the limb, either from fruit or snow. My apple trees that had upward sloping branches were able to handle 3+ feet of snow without breaking.

Thank you Hester and Robin for your quick replies. I'll give them a snip and leave the tree alone otherwise!