AusBonsai

Hi all.

I have a Trident Maple and recently i has been attacked by scale, which i attended to, but soon after the tree went into shock. So dunked it in seasol for an hour or so and kept moist up to it in hope that it would regain health and new leaves. The tree lost over 50% of its leaves and i wasnt sure if i should have removed the rest so i didnt. (Was that a mistake?) The tree was slow to push out new leave for about a week or two but then i powered on.
Due to this cafuffle i was not game to do any work on my beloved tree which i planned to do this summer. And now i was wondering if i should still go ahead with the defoliation this summer? and can i also once defoliated, prune and wire? or would it be better to leave the lil tree untill next season and for now just tip prune to keep a slight shape?

Pat

I would leave it until next season---unless its a very large infestation of scale I just tend to rub the scale off with fingers or toothbrush--I try to keep the oils off if possible

Do not defoliate unless the tree is healthy.
You could have root rot also.

Mick

Good that you didn't remove the rest of the leaves

My advice is in line with Guy and Mick's, do not defoliate this summer.

If the tree is not healthy, then work should not be done.

Depending on how it is going later in the season, you could still wire with the leaves on.

Post some pics so we can see whether tip pruning is advisable. You want the tree to grow strong, so if you take the growing tips out (keeping it in a bonsai shape) it may not get the strength that you want to see.

i will post up some pic tomoz guys thanks for the feedback.


Pat