Probably not the best time to cut branches with winter coming, if it were mine, I would wait to see how the tree responds before insulting the tree anymore
The tree was planted when the building was constructed, not a wild tree, tree was short compared to local pines with some zig zagging to trunk n branches unlike my local pines with straight tall trunks and branches, wish I would have took photos
Found a two needle pine growing on a fast food restaurant chains property, it looked like a Japanese two needle pine, I took a few pine cones for seeds was wondering if anyone could identify from cones?
Looking at your soil it’s very moisture retaining, you are more then likely over watering which causes root rot in elm, the trunk looks dead, scratch the bark and see if it’s green underneath? Most likely watering issues being new to the hobby, good luck!