Sure. That's why you don't PULL the leaves off and why you
always leave at least a stub of the petiole (leaf stem) on. But
the descriptions on partial leaf cutting that I recall were aimed
at doing less than full stripping (and at those broad-leafed
trees that [supposedly] didn't take to having all of their leaves
removed.)

Anyway, I've tried it on trees with very short petioles which
allegedly one shouldn't strip and have seen no benefit; neither
did the leaves fall off as new ones were produced -- because new
ones were NOT produced. I was stuck with a half-leaved tree for
the remainder of the growing season. I left from 1/2 to 1/3 of
the leaf on the branches; maybe I needed to just leave a tiny bit
of the leaf, but ever since I've just defoliated all deciduous,
broad-leafed trees, leaving a bit of petiole -- which ALL
broad-leaf leaves have.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

=========================
Jim: My understanding of the benefit of only cutting part of the
leaf was simply to prevent damage to the axillary buds under the
petioles.

Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lewis

I'd like to know the benefits of cutting the leaves in the
summer.

There are two:

1. Reducing leaf size (a goal only on a ready-to-show bonsai
since leaf size doesn't matter a whit to a tree in training, and
2. More importantly, as a means of improving the ramification
(twigginess) of the branches. This is why you would leaf prune a
tree in training.

A couple books I have recommend either taking the leaves off all
together in late July or cutting them in half or cutting two
thirds of each leaf off.

Others' findings may differ, but I have never found any benefit
in partially snipping leaves.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL

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