Hi! This is my young red maple tree. I live by the Texas coast and the city was giving out free tree saplings to help conserve energy. I’ve had this for probably over a year now. Maybe even close to 2. It looked like a tall stick for the longest time but this spring, it finally started filling out!
But I noticed a lot of growth from the base and branches coming out of the main trunk (?) from the base on up. It doesn’t look like a tree.
Should I clean up the base and remove the bottom branches up to about 2 or 3 feet? It was about 6 feet tall when it arrived but is now probably closer to 11 feet (I didn’t measure but the crown towers over me now… but I’m only 5 ft tall). Is there a proper way to go about this? Should I wait? Summer is upon us - is it okay to prune now in case of a heat wave?
I’ve been gardening for the past 2 years but am new to tree care.
Thank you!
for sure remove the basal sprouts. Id look up developmental pruning for trees and go from there.