Defoliating in autumn to build energy?

[Paulneill]

I was reading Peter teas blog (which is very good by the way) and he mentioned removing the leaves on trident maples as they start to go dormant. He said this boots the trees energy for next season , or something along those lines . He didn't go into detail on the subject and I am interested to find out more .

Does anyone use this technique or know what he is talking about?

[Jow]

Most Japanese nurseries defoliate once the leaves turn. Although from what I could work out it was done to prevent the leaves dropping in the nursery and making a mess and to remove potential pest eggs and disease spores etc.

[bki]

I think it is to conserve energy instead of to build energy.

[GavinG]

I don't get it - leaves are the energy source for the tree, so even though they are colouring up, and circulation is being withdrawn, they are still contributing a little to the tree's energy stores, until they fall completely. Glad to hear any more technical explanation.

Gavin

[shibui]

That's my understanding too Gavin. All the mobile nutrients are taken out of the leaves and stored in other plant tissues. The leftovers which cannot be moved or used is what we see as 'autumn colour' so defoliating would potentially remove nutrients (energy) from the plant rather than building it. Maybe there's something I'm missing as well but I suspect Joe's explanation is more likely.
Possibly a misinterpretation or error in translation somewhere?

[Paulneill]

I finally found this I forgot it was in the comments section.

[Naimul]

has he posted anything regarding defoliating the maples since that comment? that site is strangely hard to use

[Paulneill]

Hi Naimul .he did mention its safe to remove all leaves when 50 % have changed colour . If you go to the index page on the main menu it is easier to navigate through his articles on his blog. There is lots of info in there about defoliation and refinement .