Last year I took off quite a few of the most upright limbs/watersprouts. Some were a couple of inches thick. There are still quite a few left as you can see, as well as lots of younger branches.
Wonder, should I continue to take off most of the straight up thick branches, as well as maybe thin out lots of the smaller ones? They're pretty thick in there. I don't plan to do everything this year. It's hard to know where to start!
Hi Taiji,
Just continue working at getting the matted areas clear by removing crossing and broken wood. At this stage I would still leave the scecatuers in the shed and rely on a small saw. Those tangled masses on the lower areas must be thinned out. The temptation to snip away is great I know but the old rule of 'growth follows the knife' holds good. So it's better to make one larger cut than a dozen small ones.
Keep being strict on those uprights. Remove any that start to get too strong so you force the tree to slow down and start putting its strength into the lower wood.
I know you find your tree too thick....and it is....but it's shape is coming along fine, and a couple more seasons should have it looking great.