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What do you mean by "drastic pruning like in Europe"?
Are you an arborist? Do you have any horticultural education?
Before you do any pruning you need to have a plan and know the effect on the tree. There must be a balance between the age of the tree, tree vigor, amount of wood, and amount of foliage removed.
If you are trying to emulate the pollarding that you saw in Europe, you should reconsider. Pollardiing a tree demands that you prune the new growth off every year. Besides disfiguring a beautiful tree, you could kill the tree if you do not follow up every year.
Ponder this if you will...
Think of what you do to earn your living. How much training did it take you to get where you are today? The profession, yes profession, not trade, of arboriculture demands training and skill in order to practice it well. Would you buy a parachute and then jump out of a plane without training.
Please don't take my response as a smart-mouth. There is a lot of harm done to trees by people who do not have training. Get some training before you grab a saw.
I am in Minneapolis so the timing of pruning may be a little different than in New York.
Maples-Prune any time, the sap will run in the spring if pruning is done after the tree goes dormant. The loss of sap is insignificant to the health of the tree. In sugar maples the sap is about 8% sugar which is starch which is the food of the tree. The rest is water.
Oaks-Here we advise "Don't prune in May and June". That is when the oaks areee putting on the new growth for the year and are at a high risk of airborne Oak Wilt infection. We generally bracket these dates by at least two weeks in a normal year and more in mild springs.
Hire a Certified Arborist!
Tom Dunlap