Advice Please! Pruning An Acer.

With all the acers in our garden we have never needed to prune one. Sometimes we have had to remove dead branches but, otherwise, they seem to grow in an even and pleasing shape.

This Katsura, which we don't mind getting bigger, has suddenly started sprouting long vertical branches. Is this a normal growth for this variety or do we need to prune it? If so, how much do we remove?

 

Thanks Spruce . It just looks as though, if I prune the tops it may bush out too much up there and the tree will look fatter at the top than lower down. Whereas most acers seem to have a shape that is wider at the bottom than the top (all of ours do).

 

Most of our acers tend to have a horizontal style of growth but this seems to be vertical.

In the spring the leaves are a lovely pale green with red borders.

 

Thanks Spruce

We've had it three years now. It always looks good but hasn't, up to now, put on this spurt of growth. Last autumn nearly all the new branches died back just as they were starting to grow. Presumably due to the drought we had in Shineyland. The tree now seems to have got itself established properly.