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Trees are tough mofos, which anyone who's tried to kill one will confirm, so I'd just lop the fucker off. Angle the cut in such a way that any water will run off, as that's one way it can cause more widespread damage to the tree.
andyp-
This. Aim to cut perpendicular to the branch so you end up with a circular cut instead of a big oval. Do an undercut first so that the bark doesn’t tear down the trunk and cause a wound. The lower the cut is down the trunk and the larger the diameter the higher the risk though. I’d be inclined to make a couple of cuts further up instead of losing the whole limb but that’s just the hippie-arborist in me talking.
Maggies are tough as nails and can handle losing a limb or two so should be fine.
It looks like it could do with a light thinning through the middle of the lower crown as well. Send the kids up with a pair or secateurs :)
edmundro
While all the folk with gardening know how are being helpful. I have another quick question we have this magnolia tree in the lawn and are thinking of removing the branch that is (badly) circled. As it gets in the way and will hopefully encourage it to grow up a bit more, is this a terribly silly idea?
Edit please don't judge me for all of the child detritus cluttering up the lawn.