This article was co-authored by Lauren Kurtz.

Sep 23, Expert Response. Maples are typically pruned in spring once their leaves have filled out.

Cut your relief cuts in the right spots to avoid damaging the tree.

From your pictures it appears if you take the lower branches off you may not be left with a nice shape. I would highly recommend you contact a local tree care company and ask an arborist come out for a consult. An arborist can hear what you would like to do and propose the best process to support your tree's. Nov 08, Once you have the branches picked out that you are going to prune off, cut them off about a foot away from the main trunk.

Cut it cleanly with one cut coming from the bottom up and another cut meeting it from the top. Once the weight from this branch is gone, you can cut off the remainder of the stub. Cut cleanly so as not to remove too much bark.

Make sure your hands are not in the way of your hand saw or chainsaw.

You may need to use all three basic pruning tools for a red maple: hand pruners or pruning shears, lopping shears and pruning saws. Use pruning shears for branches up to 3/4 inch in diameter.