Presumably, apart from having its clothing peremptorily stripped off, it is healthy? If it's managed to reach 60 feet watering or fertilising are redundant. As Embo says, there is absolutely nothing you can do to reverse the damage.

Tree is about 60 feet tall......From what I'm reading, I should water and fertilize

==>> you need some better reading sources.. thank God you found us ...

if you fert your lawn.. this 60 foot monster will get whatever it needs ... including if your neighbor ferts his lawn ... and the next neighbor over ... i would NEVER fert this tree...EVER ... if anything it will be stressed.. not hungry ....

i would NOT water a dormant tree in winter.. hudson valley means little to me .... but i still wouldnt water it in mid december ... does your ground freeze ... do you have consistent snow cover ....

i am not much impressed with claims of best time to prune things.. yes.. its nice to do it then.. but USUALLY not that big a deal if its done whenever ... not many active bugs or disease.. this time of year... imo ...

i more concerned.. how close this this 60 footer is to your house ... that he had to go up that high to get it off the house ....

i would also be unconcerned about canopy per cent removed ...

the deed is done.. i will leave it to others to console you about your pro ....

but i highly doubt there is much to worry about in the long run.. regarding the tree ...

any chance at a pic or 2 ....ken

"Yes, I am now painfully aware of the need to get a qualified arborist."

Or just learn to establish boundaries with people in your employ. Sorry, I know it's too late for you but I want to strike some balance here...to say, in fact, you don't need certified arborists in many cases, for basic tree work. The local guy I use tried to "market" the idea of turning my beloved Norway spruces into "Calgary palms". (LOL, hadn't heard that one before) "David, yah want me to limb 'em up fer yah?" I just said, politely, no, and the subject has never come up again. But, yeah, for future work, you do want to find someone else besides the greedy idiot who ruined a 60' Norway Spruce.

Tree is about 60 feet tall......From what I'm reading, I should water and fertilize

==>> you need some better reading sources.. thank God you found us ...

SO TRUE KEN. ROTFL AT YOUR COMMENT.

Embothrium, I love "Calgary palm" at least it gives me something funny to think of when I look at it.

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK, the tree looks healthy as a (healthy) horse, not dropping more than a few odd needles here and there, nothing dead on it.

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Here's how it looks now:

oh and ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 it's about 15 or so feet from the house.

Well, that close to a house...some people would make the case that - in upstate NY, you need all the light you can get into windows - so depending upon what you really wanted in the first place...I wouldn't say it "ruined" the tree. I take that back. Maybe there's some great view out of that top attic window?

Healthwise, the tree will be fine.

I did want to keep most of the tree because I liked the look of it. I only wanted to minimize the amount of needles ending up in my gutters.

Embarrassing to admit, but as my mom is retired and has free time, and I don't, I had her deal with the tree. Emphasizing that I wanted the bare minimum taken off several times. Ultimately, I blame myself for not taking control of the situation given that I really love this tree. However, I'm glad it's likely to survive.

Not an attractive outcome, looking either from inside the house - where now you are going to seeing a bare trunk all the time - or outside. Esp. since you have all those other trees around you there I would have the spruce removed - house would look much better framed by them, without a partly scalped tree standing right in front of it. And you wouldn't have to deal anymore with debris from the spruce, or the possibility of the whole thing coming down on the house some time.

Remove and replace.

Calgary Palm........ LOL

Limbing up conifers that are not working out in their current planting positions is a half measure, as is topping trees of all kinds that are trapped under power lines. In either case the trees should removed instead of being made ugly.

Frlm my phone it does not look like they left stubs you need to follow up on.

My vote is to have patience and see if it grows on you. Once its cut down you can't put it back.

Looks like a rather neat house / layout you have btw.

That is one magnificent Norway Spruce. If that tree was in a forest environment, competing with other comparable trees, it might not look much different than it does now, except for some of the lower branches would be present and mostly dead of course. If the tree is healthy, NS can grow for centuries, so, yeah, if you like it there, give it a chance. At least you'll have time to think it over.

I see that as an opportunity to plant something to the left, something to the right, and something in front.

Pete has the best idea so far! Redbuds to left, right, and in front (that's what I would do).

Tree is not part of a forest grove. It is instead standing by itself right in front of - and above the top of - a house. And surrounding the spruce with a thicket of red-buds will not improve the situation at all - quite the opposite. In addition to having its facade cleft vertically by a bare pole the structure would then have a bunch of deciduous growth masking its bottom half, like a sort of up swept beard.

Now cutting the spruce down and planting a single redbud at an appropriate spot in front of the house would be a different story entirely.

Yet the OP clearly states his having an appreciation for the tree which is the subject of this thread. He seeks help in "saving" the tree and many of us have correctly told him that his tree will be fine. All other landscape design considerations fall outside of this question. And yes, the tree will be fine.

I think it's looking pretty good now, for a NS. Most of the heavy shade is gone so you can plant other stuff around it. And the trunk is good for some vine to climb now.

"I think it's looking pretty good now"
I agree, I've seen much uglier bare trunk trees. Depending on which way the house is facing, the occupants might appreciate the extra light in winter.

Granted it would have looked better if mom would've quit about 10-15' earlier but mom knows best! :))

the OP clearly states his having an appreciation for the tree

All other landscape design considerations fall outside of this question

Yet the opening statement I see is

I have a Norway (pretty sure) spruce that a maniac tree guy recently mutilated

thereby establishing a clear belief that there is an undesirable aesthetic situation present right at the start.

you can plant other stuff around it. And the trunk is good for some vine to climb now

Area beneath tree is going to be full of roots and subject to dripping from high crown. So it may turn out to not be a prime planting site - as is often the case beneath evergreen conifers.

Trees this size seldom need fertilizer in most normal environment. Waster might be helpful if it lost roots, but it lost foliage, which tends to lose moisture...from a hydration standpoint, it's ahead of the game.

Actually, the "Before" picture shows what I would consider a good job of limbing it up...Just enough space to duck underneath it.

I actually agree with Logan. Plant a couple smaller, shade tolerant understory trees like American Holly or redbud underneath it. Take advantage of the extra space. A few years down the road when the understory trees are bigger you can decide if you want to keep he spruce.