Special Techniques:

This technique, which is reserved to deciduous trees, needs balanced conditions of temperature, light and humidity. Its aim is creating an artificial autumn, cutting the leaves and leaving the stalk that will dry. Later the plant will emit new buds, which produce smaller leaves. The tree will keep the same foliage dimension, but will increase the number of its leaves, to compensate the volume reduction. The removing of the leaves should be done starting from the low part and reaching the top after a few days: in this way the tree will emit new buds also on the first branches. Otherwise, the tree could neglect the lowest branches and concentrate the vegetative push just on its highest portions.
Defoliation is a big shock for the tree, which must be healthy and strong. So it would be better to fertilize it in spring, in order to defoliate it in June.
You can use this technique also to prepare a specimen with new leaflets for an exhibition, like growers do with Zelkovas.
Finally you can defoliate a tree to save it from root-rottenness: in this case, before you repot it, you should remove all the leaves that cause the tree dehydration .

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