On this property there was a lot we did over the day, yet this cherry tree really took the most thought while pruning it. There was a strange branch the over took the rest of the tree and made it lop sided. The initial fix was to prune this branch back 5 to 7 years ago. 

To take this branch today would throw the balance of the tree off completely. 

This is where my arborist brain had to go to work. There is an art and science to how to approach situations like this. 

My philosophy has always been to treat pruning like a hair cut not a buzz cut. 

We are not going for high and tight.

The after photo shows how we pruned back a few of the tips to balance out the tree's canopy. The tree pruning techniques we used were tip reduction and canopy thinning. When the clients and I spoke we agreed there will be a secondary visit so we can keep the shaping and control the tree how we want it to grow. Reflecting upon this tree pruning makes me feel like a new age Mr. Miyagi.