you are right to not trim the large branches on old trees. they are balanced for the
whole tree. however, you can remove the suckers. I think what happened is somebody
whacked at the tree in spring and it stimulated suckering
spring pruning stimulates suckers
late summer pruning is for removal
what I cant remember is whether to rip the suckers off or cut them off to hinder
their regrowth. Ingrid

"Zootal" wrote:

Unfortunately, this thing is huge and probably past the point where I can
shape it. It's about 100 years old and the trunk is about 3 feet in
diameter, and the branches that split up from the trunk are easily 12". I
hesitate to touch them because they are so big. I can remove the vertical
suckers, and thin out the existing branches - but what else can you do with
a huge old tree? I'll try to post some pics this weekend so you can see what
I'm dealing with. Now that the leaves are gone, it's easier to see what I'm
working with.



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