Hello everyone,

I have a vine maple (Acer circinatum) that is about 15' tall with 5
stems that almost touch at the base. The stems are about 4-5" dia each.
It's growing behind a retaining wall and probably doesn't get enough
water in the summer. Two of the stems died early this summer while I
was away for a while when it was unusually hot. The other 3 survived and
appear to be ok. Could someone please help me with pruning away the 2
dead stems?

1) First, I assume the stems are all connected somehow underground to
common roots so that what I do to one affects them all. Is that right?
Otherwise the rest of the questions won't matter

2) Is this a good time to remove them, or should I wait until later in
the winter? I'm near Portland, OR and the leaves are off now.

3) I want to make the first cut high to reduce the weight and then make
a final cut. Should the final cut be as close to the ground as possible
or is there a best place to cut them?

4) Is it necessary to treat the exposed wood?

Thanks for any help.

Dean Riechman