Pruning in the late dormant period allows you to make decisions based on wood that at that time appears to have survived the winter. Keep in mind that pruning persimmons is not as vital as pruning is for apples or stone fruit, and for zone 7, I would suggest pruning conservatively. Still, making a few cuts to help determine the size and structure of the tree can prove to be worthwhile in the long run.

It all depends what you are after. A bushy tree or a spindely tree, do you have deer problems, if you do than you start with a single trunk tree and start side branching a little higher like the way i am doing it because of deer.I have about 12-16 of them every day but no problem sofar.