. How do I prune it to make at least twice more narrow without killing it

+===>>> you cant ... well ... it wont die from such ... but its not going to be this pretty ...

and it would be better to move the other two ..

its a Picea pungens ... a blue spruce ... something along the lines of 'St Marys Broom'

and its a splendid specimen ... really.. dont mess with it ... design around it ...

ken

generalities on pruning at this link

http://conifersociety.org/conifers/designing-with-conifers/

Thank you... Well, I need to think what to do, as I can't afford it that big... I have tiny yard.

well then.. you do.. what you have to do ... and i look forward to what others might say ...

but do be sure.. its not a haircut thing ...

mine is in a similar situation .. and i have been thinking about limbing it up.. from the bottom ... basically creating a standard ... but at least leaving the top un-marred ... and since its down from my deck.. thats where i will be looking from anyway ...

but i have been thinking about this for 3 years .. and just havent had the guts to do it ...

if you do do that ... post us some pix.. maybe you will motivate me ...

ken

Ok)

I'd prune the rose bush, instead, and dig up the pine. Then I'd pull the stones back to expand the size of your bed. That spruce is awesome, and I'd do my best to make it the focal point of your garden. In my opinion, pruning it would be an aesthetic mistake.

The pine has sentimental value and has to stay. The rose I probably can move. To move the stones - not possible, - behind them is my small orchard and the spruce will not take its spot - no way).

The other possibility, I suppose, is to find a friend who wants a nice blue spruce and give it to him/her. But I realize that I'm offering advice that was not asked for, and I apologize. To your original question, I don't know how to effectively prune a blue spruce. Good luck!

OK, I pruned it! Found a nice site explaining whole process. Basically you either remove whole low branch, or cut the branch to the closest branch and no electrical tools! So first I removed low branches, that were out of spot. Then started making cuts to create a balanced look. Then I figured out, that one major branch was growing almost horizontally and have not much left on it, so I removed whole thing. I did a bit more cuts that I needed to free the space, just to make it look nice. When I was able to get to the middle of the tree - it was a lot of dead wood there, I cleaned up too. Here are some pictures:
This is how much I cut and the tools:

New front look:
New look from the right:
From this side it looks like a huge bonsai tree)) But I think it is good for it to be open from east side - the best sun will get into the middle of the tree, closed for midday sun. That tilted look is actually it's original look, in the beginning it was "chair" shaped.
Now look from left:
and from the back:
From that side you can actually see two cuts I had to make to look it better from the front, but there is no anybody to look at it from the back)

So in general I am happy with how it came out. What I am not sure about, how the tree will react of such drastic haircut. But this tree is a fighter(remember, it was dug out or may be even puled out to go to the trash station and survived! ) So I hope all three of my plants will be living happily ever after)

I wrote up a post almost identical to what DeanW45 posted. I guess I forgot to hit send.
It's hard giving advice without knowing all the facts you didn't mention until the advice was given. Sentimental value usually over rides good advice. Been there, done that numerous times with landscape customers.
Mike

good enough ... spend the summer enjoying it ... let it sort itself out ... and maybe you will take more at some later time ...

i think i would look to take some minor stuff.. off the front.. to lift the bottom a bit ... though not back to the trunk ...

you do not have to ONLY take things back to the trunk ... but you take smaller things back to the next larger branch ... just dont leaves stubs.. because once you take off the growing points.. it will just be a dead stub ... so prune it clean ...

third pic down.. with your neighbors car.. i really like the back/right side ... the way it sorta looks like an elm ... i do not like the floppy other side ... and would work on that.. one snip at a time ... try to even it out..

and put away the giant loppers... the next job is a hand pruner job ..

just remember.. you can always take more later... you cant glue them back on ... nor staple.. bandage.. screw.. etc ...

ken

Thank you) I think I will leave it alone till next year. I did what I have to free the space, and to even it as much as I care about - from the side I look at. I will let it recover till next year and do some more next spring. Also will take better care about pine saw fly next year and spray before it eats half of the needles...