SHOHIN
Leaf cut rather than defoliate
Before and after difference
as seen from aboveMountain maple Height: 14 cm Width: 21 cm Front
before work
Example of one leaf removal. One of each pair of the outer leaves is removed, the remaining leaf is left as it isExample of leaf cutting. On the left side is the normal size leaf, the right side has
been cut in a variety of ways. As long as some of the leaf remains, the result will
be the same
Before work from above After leaf cutting from above After leaf cutting. By just leaving a small amount of
leaf, the second flush of growth will not start, air and
light can penetrate into the tree and development will
continue smoothlyExample of cut leaf:
Normal leaf
A maple that is in the stage of branch
development.
Maples will have the new growth pinched out early in the spring
to restrict the node length, it is not, therefore, a good idea to
defoliate too much.
If maples are defoliated then they tend to develop new buds
all over the tree, not just at the tips as a trident maple would.
This leads to clusters of buds forming at nodes and dealing with
them is a difficult job that, if not performed correctly, will result
in coarse branches. It can lead to unnecessary scars forming and
the structure becoming destroyed. If leaves are left as they are;
however, the same issue of the inner branches dying off arises
due to a lack of sun and fresh air flow.
In this case, rather than cutting the leaf off entirely, the leaves
are cut smaller, roughly in half, to allow more light and air to
penetrate, but without causing second flush growth.42 Bonsai Focus
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