A beautiful tree stands just outside my apartment window. In springtime, most of its branches overflow with delicate white blossoms. But some branches are bare, cut off near the trunk, unable to produce new life this season. Why did the caretaker cut those branches? Perhaps they hadn’t produced blossoms in a while. Maybe they were rotting. Perhaps they were growing in a direction that would eventually be harmful to them. Pruning is a vital process for most trees, shrubs and flowers. It stimulates healthier production of fruit and flowers, removes damaged parts and, as one arborist website says, maintains the…