Multi stemmed red maple. Safe to prune out small stems?

[PJP]

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice on the pictured tree. It is a multi stemmed red maple and there are two stems roughly 4” & 6” protruding out of the ground maybe or maybe not connected to the dominant stem.

I want to prune them out but am worried about decay down the road in to the lower trunk on the main stem.

Any advice on this? Good or bad idea? The small stems really do nothing for the tree and are curved and ugly on top of it making everything look messy. It really is an aesthetic concern on the smaller stems.

Again, my concern in decay taking its toll in the lower trunk of the stem they may be connected to at ground grade.
Thanks a lot for your input.

 

[ATH]

Yes....they are low enough that you can safely cut those. However, I'd go further. Probably take out that whole cluster. they will be in the shade of that large tree anyhow and I don't think you'd miss it in the long-term.

 

[moojpg2]

What ATH said^^ Take out the whole cluster and let the larger tree next to them thrive by itself. Only thing you'll be missing out on is the tangled up mess of snags those two trees will create once they are both big and the canopies grow into each other.

 

[CacaoBoy]

Agreed. But if for some reason you want to keep a part of the cluster, then trim as you contemplate and remove the larger nearby tree.