From Jim S:

Other resons for leaf cutting:

snip

Balance of vigour: To promote vigor and growth in desired
areas, allow other
areas to "rest". Reduce leaf sizes to do the same, similar to
needle plucking
with pines...

I have _never_ noticed any benefit from this, though I've tried
it several times. Rather than pushing energy into areas that
seemed to need it, the tree puts it energy into makeing new
leaves when I stripped. So maybe I should strip the WEAK areas.
g


Dormancy: Overall rest/decrease transpiration burden during
hottest part of
summer in anticipation of fall growth spurt.

Very good point for those of us where summers are truly hot --
not like those folks "up nawth" who complain of the heat at upper
80s.


I've observed the same budding, or lack thereof, with partial
leaf cutting.
Perhaps one reason is that there is less risk of a branch up
and dying with
greater leaf matter and just maybe it'll pop somewhere other
than the tip!

No. My trees ignore partial leaf cutting. Life goes on as
usual.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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