Picture of seiryuu.

I'm not sure what I'd do, but I'm curious to hear others' responses. I have several young trees that were "headed," and it irks me. Especially on an upright taller JM, how do you correct that?

as much of pruning is personal preference....I would take 12 to 18 inches off those 4 or 5 ends coming from the low branch on seiruu, they seem too vigorous relative to the rest of the tree....on the other one I remove all lower growth below the 4 pronged branches off trunk .... that's just me of course...

I prune to make branches support the eventual canopy at about 25 feet, rather than make a perfect little tree that looks like a big tree. A little tree won't blow itself up like a balloon.
Mike

Thanks for the help! I'll continue to reduce the lower branch on the seiryuu. For the osakazuki, shouldn't I be concerned about having that many codominant stems? I couldn't decide if I should reduce the competing stems (which would remove quite a bit of foliage) or if I should train the vigorous shoot on the left as the new leader. And should I wait until late winter to prune at this point?

Mike -- what is the lowest permanent branch you would keep on a 25' canopy? From what I've read about pruning larger trees I would guess at least 6', but I'm not sure how that translates to smaller japanese maples.

A reason for cutting off all branches below six feet usually come from keeping the branches out of the way when you mow. Thankfully, yours are not out in the lawn. If a branch is large and down low will it collect more snow than it can support when it gets larger? If so, I'd cut it off. I've learned the hard way a number of times. Sure, you can keep it trimmed and small, but eventually it will have to go. That's why I cut them off as soon as I can see a potential problem. Prune as if it were a 25 ft. umbrella. I keep the branches on the trunk short with the idea of eventually removing them. In the meantime they shade the trunk until the canopy can do it.
I'm not very good at explaining this. Sorry. I will try and get some pictures of some of my maples to clarify a few things later.
Mike

I think I get your point Mike, and I share the philosophy of keeping lower branches rather than making "miniature trees." I think I will plan to keep all current branches to What do you think about cutting back the leader and picking one of those vigorous shoots on the left as the new leader?