Large pines with dead lower branches

[<nowhere]

I have a row a pines (blue spruce & ?) along one properly line that are

30'-40' tall. Most of the lower branches are dead, I assume because they are no longer getting any light because the upper branches. Is it ok to remove these branches so that the trunk is clean up to about 5 feet from the ground? I'm thinking about doing that and then planting pachysandra or some other shade-loving ground cover underneath. They run right along side the deck and the brown, needleless sections are ugly.

[LM]

Yes - we trim our evergreens ( cedar,hemlock, fir & spruce) all the time. The deer also trim them if we don't.

[John Crichton]

[Joe Zorzin]

You can, if you have a need, also trim live branches. Most conifers will not suffer at all with as little as a third of the stem with live branches, as that's what happens in the forest.

--

************* Joe Licensed Forester in Massachusetts

[dicko]

I have a Blue Spruce that has grown tall enough to have its lower branches impinging into the airspace of my driveway. Every time I prune one of them back, the branch dies.

Is there a right and wrong way to prune a Blue Spruce?

dickm

[Romy Beeck]

Icut off all the branches on my blue spruce about 7ft from the ground so can walk right under the tree and have no problem. It looks nice and no mess under the tree. It is a very large tree and about 50yrs old.