Pruining a tree

[dmclone]

My neighbor and I have very similar trees. I know very little about trees so I rarely mess with it. At the start of spring if I have branches that are facing down, I cut them off. My neighbor on the other hand seems to do more with his trees. Should I be doing something different?


Mine is the one closest.



Here is a closeup of his

[dmclone]

He has cut some off the top as well as the bottom.

[CTTB78]

If it were mine, I would cut off some of the lower branches. Depends if you want it to look like a tree or a bush. I like to be able to walk under any tree (with the exception of an ornamental).
Yours is actually the better tree because it has one leader without a fork so close to the ground.

Do the pruning in the dormant season.