I enjoy pruning and shaping trees and shrubs, and I've found that on whe whole they look better if lifted from the ground - light and air get underneath, shadows create depth, and it can be done so that the work doesn't show (I hate to see plants, especially trees just chopped or butchered!)
This handsome viburnum Davidii had rather outgrown its space and to my eye looked a bit sprawling and floppy. Cutting from underneath I removed all the branches with leaves that touched the ground. Although the grass will take time to recover I do think it looks better for having its skirts lifted as this kind of pruning is sometimes called..
At the other side I love the combination with hakonechloa macra aurea (these Latin names again, but does anyone know if this Japanese grass has a common name?).
The robin has a nest with five babies so is very busy just now....