Defoliating Eucalypts

[Waltron]

Hi people,

I'm keen to hear of peoples experiences regarding defoliating Eucalypts - any species.
I am having a hard time finding information about it.
Does anyone have any experience defoliating Eucalypts?
What time a year has worked best for you?
Has complete or partial defoliation worked best for you?
How long has it taken the tree to show movement after defoliation?

Thanks.

[Mitchell]

I can't offer much knowledge atm but am currently pursuing, the act of defoliation via flame assistance.

I am only removing foliage by burning it off on several species of Euc. So far results are proving very promising, with profuse back budding on very old wood.

[PeterH]

Waltron,

My two cents worth as Pup would say,


I am no expert on Eucs but I have tried full and partial defoliation on various varieties. The following processes I have used may or may not work for you. When I experimented with complete defoliation it was on polyanthemos and the resulting foliage was as big as a tennis ball. Since then I have trimmed back to two to three internodes were needed ( once a year ) and pinched back the tips of the new growth as it elongates. This seems to work with all the varieties I am working with currently( mannifera, nicholii, polyanthemos, sideroxylon and some unidentified ) It is also important to balance the foliage as you would a pine.


I hope this helps

Peter

[Joel]

Ignore the first thing Peter said. He is most definitely an expert on Eucs.

Jol

[ozzy]

I dug up a eucylyptus last year, it defoliated itself and then came back real strong, gum trees were brought up on defoliation, wether thats by koalas or bushfire, I'm sure a healthy eucky would be able to be defoliated no problems, I was taught at the bonsai club that natives are fussy and don't like to be messed with, yesterday I threw a bucket full of full strength thrive fertilizer on it, lets see what it thinks about that

[EdwardH]

Some years ago I toyed with a E. maculata. I didn't defoliate it however a friendly grub did an expert job for me It was on the last leaf before I realised that the'branch' was infact a grub Long story short, my maculata never missed a beat. I would pinch the tips just like a maple which would promote new growth. This regime, when maintained lead to small leaves around the 2-3cm mark all over the tree. Hope this helps.

[benny350]

I have one on the go that I partially defoliated a while back, it responded really well with heaps of new buds. I also take off the biggest leaves every few weeks and are usually met with new buds where the old leaf was by the time I come to do it again. It is only a young tree and I'm still building the branch structure but in my experience even when trimming branches I usually get 2 to 3 new buds just back from the cut, it works really well to get that forked look our eucs have.

[Noramay]

I have a euc here, not sure what type but about a month ago I broke off all the leaves and small branches and the tree has backbudded everywhere right down to the ground and its is nearly a metre tall, made me happy as previously only had a small amount of leaves at the very top. Now I'm going to try n layer her and hope for 2 trees.

good luck Nora