Tree ID & Pruning Advice Please

Could someone help in saying what tree this is please, I am sure that it keeps
its leaves during the Winter........but its now over grown it space and is over
hanging into the pavement.

We have two of these trees, the one in the foreground needs thinning out and also
its height also needs to be reduced....the one is the background is a bit smaller but
most of the wood seems to be dead in the middle, I was thinking of maybe reducing
the height by at least 1/3

Would this be the right time of year to prune these trees and can anyone
give any pruning advice please.

 

I think they're hawthorn (Crataegus). They're tough enough to put up with pretty much any amount of pruning.

Just a thought, they should be coming in to flower within the next two or three weeks, so unless it's really urgent, maybe you could leave it for another month or so before pruning them?

 

I would agree with hawthorn, think you can make out the flower buds on one of the photos.

Personally I would be inclined to enjoy the flowers, then remove only anything that is in the way as after the flowers there will be plenty of berries for the birds.

Then around February next year you could prune them quite hard if desired, they wont mind it and will soon reshoot

All depends how urgently you need to prune them?

 

I had my Hawthorne pruned on Friday. My tree surgeon says it's a good time for an established tree.

 

Thanks for the advice, I have thinned the tree out, it wasn't urgent but the weekend is the only time I get to do these types of jobs, I left some small branches to still give the tree some
height but still undecided if the top of tree would look better if all the branches were
at the same height?

Not touched the other tree yet, but worries me as the centre of the tree is dead and
also looks like it has wood worm, but I know little about trees :(

 

In the case of the tree you've already pruned, I'd be inclined to leave it like that for now. If you cut off all the remaining branches at the same height you will find the whole tree looks an unnatural, 'artificial' shape, whereas if you leave it, the tree will naturally produce new growth to fill in the gaps in the crown, giving a more natural, balanced appearance.

In the case of the second tree, simply cut out the dead branch just above the point where you can still see live growth. It would probably be a good idea to then shorten a few of the remaining live branches on the left hand side of the tree (as seen in your photo), otherwise it will have a very lopsided appearance, with all its weight leaning to that side. Hawthorn are fairly tough, so there's a good chance that it will recover and put on plenty of new growth after you've cut out the dead branch.