No thats how I start my landscaping actually.
I cut down every single tree in the town,
put my pathway down, then put designs on where I would like to have trees.
The only thing I'd be cautious of is your perfect town rating, if you have that. Possibly if you have enough flowers you'd be fine, but I honestly don't know myself. I know in the old games villagers would complain if there wasn't enough greenery, but that was flowers included. I'm unsure how it works in ACNL. If you don't have perfect town/get it all done in one day/already have your watering cans and have no further need for the rating, go for it! ;u;
I've had to chop down a bunch of my trees as well since I'm trying to remake my whole town. I still have more trees to chop. Your villagers will probably notice but I don't think it's bad