It is always nice to have a professional admire the place.  In this case our arborist, who really appreciates our trees; since he has also worked at some arboretums, he has a certain standard of comparison.*  In any event, incidental to getting a quote on some preventive maintenance pruning in the big oaks and the Japanese maples.  The trick is to balance aesthetics and health.  It is straightforward with the oaks, take out the dead branches, give the young red maple some space…well, except all the branches in question are fifty to eighty feet up.  The Japanese maples are more of a challenge.  Thinning the crown a bit to let the smaller one have more light and to remove unhealthy branches that use more energy than they bring in or removing vigourous but structurally weak branches.  Very logical: if this branch is cut then this branch will do this.  But it requires thought and more skill than I have, especially with old Japanese maples.  I’ll stick to the apple trees and various shrubs; not only because I can reach them, but because they are much more forgiving.

*Of course, it shouldn’t be my ego, I didn’t plant those trees!