This is 1 of the J.Maples that were removed from my garden in Winter 2008 and potted up .
They were naked chop top trunks with no branches .Original posted in Dec 2008 showing the start of the progression .Today i defoliated 
and removed unwanted
branchlets and reduced the apex 
by 100mm .This trainer has been defoliated on average 4-5 times since ’08 .Whilst most people believe you can only defol’ once or twice at the maximum ,this is not correct .I have pushed Japanese Maples regularly 4-5 times per season , the timing is essentual . Six defol’s will definately kill the tree on most occasions . With so much energy going into the ramification the Chop scar 
will heal very slowly.I don’t used cut pastes on any trees however i did seal with Steri-prune , a bitumen based wound sealer .
Cheers Alpineart
Japanese Maple Progression
Good blogging!
You said that the timing is key, can you explain that a little more. Like when do you do the first defoliation and how long do you wait until the next, etc. thanks
Hi Roddy , i defoliate as soon as the first leaves harden off . when the second set of leaves harden off they too are removed and so on . This can be done as long as the health of the tree doesn’t decline . Reduce the watering until the new leaves begin to burst , then power feed over the next few weeks until the majority of the foliage i firm enough to remove . Our growing season is quite long here in Australia . Hope this helps
Cheers Alpineart
Aw, this was a really nice post. In thought I want to put it in writing like this additionally , taking time and precise effort to make a very good article , however what can I say . I procrastinate a lot and certainly not seem to get one thing done.