I would do nothing, it looks good to me.

Also, I'm not big on conifers, but your tree is not a pine.

tough location to take good pix... is the original leader dead?? .. or do you figure those buds will pop next spring...

if there wasnt any snow.. i would suggest you get out a ladd3r and get us better pix..

as to the leader issue asked.. ID is not important.. the answer will be the same...

'pine' and conifer are not interchangeable ...

i would wait until spring.. to see if the main leaders buds pop.. and if there are 2 other competing leaders... i would probably shorten one ... for sure...

now is probably not the time to be cutting off live buds... there ae no dormant buds.. so if you make bad cuts.. that branch will fail eventually ....

ken

Thank you each for your advice. I will wait until the spring and see if the leader branch shows any growth before trimming the competing branches . Meanwhile, I will do some more research on what I am now thinking is a spruce tree not a pine 😊

I thought the same. Is the top beginning to be overshadowed by the surrounding trees? Is it on the north side of that grove?

How much direct sun does this tree get daily?

It is on the south side of the tree line. I am not sure how it would have been damaged but it looks very sparse. A similar tree near by has a much more pronounced leader which is what caused my concern.

I also wonder if anything should be trimmed at the bottom as the last row or two seem out of proportion.

If you trim back too much, you may see bare wood.

I would consider a trio planting of conifers, e.g. add a Mr. Bowling Ball and a spreading juniper in an approximate triangular arrangement.

You don't need to be in a hurry to do anything.

On some species a new leader will clearly 'take over'.

If after a couple years it has formed two, remove one. Do not allow it to grow with a split trunk.

With one tree in our yard, every year for the first 8 years after it was planted, I worried that it was developing two headers. Today it is a perfect tree and I am glad to have it in the yard.

Let the tree go, it knows more about how to grow than you do. As suggested in another post I may remove some of the lower branches (<24" up) to promote air flow through the tree.