Alan Chisholm, of Old Station Rd, said he gave the tree outside his property a "bloody good haircut".
Then, neighbours who admired his handiwork asked him to prune other trees in the street - and he did.
However, Queenstown Lakes District Council parks manager Gordon Bailey told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he regarded the pruning as "really just vandalism".
Another Meadowstone resident, Mike Prendergast, claimed he started the ball rolling by having two council trees outside his house professionally pruned after a branch was damaged by wind.
He said he had since received a note from a council employee saying he was under investigation, but no action had been taken.
The ODT counted about 10 trees in various streets that had been heavily pruned.
Mr Chisholm said his main complaint with the trees was their roots.
"These brutes - all the roots go in and come up as suckers in the garden."
He suggested the roots would also interfere with underground water and electricity services.
Mr Chisholm said he was a keen gardener and had nine years' landscaping experience in Australia.
He described the council trees as "cheap" and said they were poor-flowering specimens with the potential to grow to more than 8m.
He said while residents of Meadowstone had to abide by a covenant restricting their own trees to 3m, the council's trees were allowed to grow to any height.
Other parts of the subdivision had a different, smaller-flowering cherry species he considered more suitable.
Mr Bailey rejected the suggestion the roots would interfere with modern underground services.
"When people had clay tile pipes and things yes, but nowadays it's all plastic, PVC, sealed joints. Tree roots, it's a fallacy that they penetrate. It's a bit of a red herring really."
Mr Bailey urged residents to contact the council if they had concerns about council trees.
"We are not unreasonable in these matters."
Mr Chisholm said he had not phoned the council before pruning the trees but had spoken to a worker, who had not objected.
