On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 16:30:52 GMT, "djay" wrote:

The problem is that it is encroaching on the walkway on the side of the
house. I wanted to "thin" it out and remove the portion that is overhanging
the walkway (about chest level) without hurting the tree.

http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/pruning_young.asp
http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/pruning_mature.asp

Thinning is commonly practiced, rarely advisable. Trees need interior
growth to increase branch taper/strength. Also, leaving interior
branches gives you something to cut back to if there is breakage or
pruning in future.

Cut the stuff that's in your way back to a branch collar. What you
leave should be at least 1/3 the size of what you remove. Don't cut
anything else green unless it is diseased, damaged, or rubbing another
branch. Pruning can easily go wrong, but a little common sense will
take you a long way. Just go slow, make proper cuts, and don't do too
much all at once (officially, don't remove more than 1/3 the tree at a
time; practically, avoid removing more than 1/4 if you can--and don't
do either more often than once every couple of years). If you follow
these guidelines, trees can be very forgiving of your mistakes while
you learn from them.

The nice thing about pruning your own trees is that you can make one
cut a day, one cut a week, or one cut a month; if you make mistakes,
they will have a minor impact and you can do better next time.

k