Wait until the leaves are off, so you can see what you're doing.

Is it possible this is one of the shrubbier forms of Amur Maple (i.e. A. ginnala 'Bailey Compact')?

Maples may bleed when pruned during dormancy

I had to prune mine up this spring to get rid of branch stubs left by the rabbits. The snow was so deep, the rabbits were able to nip branch's halfway up the tree. And these trees tend to explode with branches in spring, going in every direction, up, down crisscrossing and along the existing branches.

Mine might have bled a little or even for a while but I really didn't pay much attention. And it would've bled from the rabbit nips even if I didn't prune.

You aren't going to hurt an amur maple (acer ginnala) by bleeding anyways.

Most people just let them go 'Au natural' and they produce quite a large, shrub like appearance.

It's the only tree in my yard that got zero supplemental water during the drought period for the last two years. On sandy ground with sand subsoil. There are several others in the neighborhood too that are unattended and still grow remarkably well.

A good portion of the leaves are gone on mine, but it just looks better, to me anyways.

eta: I don't know if I'll do any future pruning. The way these trees send out new branches, from everywhere along the trunk and old branches, it may be futile.

When I think about it though, I was just trying to establish a single trunk on mine, so all it takes is to snap on a 'rabbit tube' to protect it over winter. ;-)

maackia I've never heard of Bailey Compact Amur Maple, but i just looked it up, and wow, my tree looks EXACTLY like it. lol Which means, pruning wouldn't help in this situation, it's always going to look like a shrub. :(

Anyways, thanks for bringing this up ilovemytrees.

I would've completely forgot.

I had planned on raising the crown on mine another 6-8" this season.

2 ft. is generally high enough, most years, to thwart rabbits.

Got 'er done! ;^)

when its leafless.. we will look to see if you have one trunk.. and then a billion branches or a billion trunks..

with the former [first].. you trim branches as high as you want the tree... not all at once.. its a system of canopy reduction.. so just a few every season ..

with the latter [the last].. well.. you got a shrub.. with tree height potential ... and that can be a problem .... if you dont like it ...

snap some pix in a month .... and lets take a look at it..

ken

One good thing, it's an Amur maple. You couldn't kill it with a chain saw.

Only thing, it may be too late to guide it into a tree form. At least one that looks good.

When I bought it they told me it was a multi trunk Amur Maple. Here's some closeups of the trunks.

I really don't think there's much you can do.

It's typical Amur maple form, especially being bought in multi trunk form at the start.

You could trim a few of the lower branches and suckers and shorten a few of the extra-long upper branches to round it off some. But it is what it is imo.

Like many other plants that aren't at their best as a 'standalone' specimen.

You could widen the bed and put some accent plants around it.

Otherwise, put something else there that you and your husband can agree with.

Just to show how unruly these things branch, here's some pictures of mine when leafless.

Every branch you cut sends out 2 or 3 from the same spot and not in any direction that makes sense.

Now that I have the crown the desired height for my purposes, I'll probably just let it go. Once it leaf's out, things are so thick you can't even see the branches. And it's along the back alley anyways. :-)

FWIW:

We had deep snow again and the rabbits helped me raise the crown even further.

Although it looks like a lot, it's only 30" of clear trunk, which on a tree like this, imo is plenty. It's on its own now, no more raising the crown or pruning any branches. I removed the seeds for two years now but I suppose that will end when the tree gets larger. :-)

6-17-2024:

No suckering. But if IIRC: It never has suckered.