Leaf reduction/defoliation on Weeping Pussy Willow (salix caprea)

[JasonRedwood]

Hey everyone, another question from me.

I have a Salix Caprea that's doing very well this year, with very - almost overly vigorous growth. This was a store bought plant, which early on had a lot of problems - all of which i've taken care of.

What i'm wondering now is leaf reduction. The tree is still very actively growing, but once it slows a bit in mid-summer, is it safe to defoliate this species? The leaves are a bit bigger than i want them, but have grown good internodes. I have a feeling defoliation will be fine, but i'm wondering if it's done on these, when it's done, and if it's complete defoliation or just some portion of the total leaves.

thanks!

 

[Cypress187]

I'm not an expert but i read that you should only defoiliate when ur bonsai has all the ramification that you want, if you need more twiggyness and/or secondairy / tertiary branching you should do that first. Or just defoiliate anyway because it's cool You can also partially only chop the biggest leaves once in a while.

 

[M. Frary]

It's a willow. I imagine you can do anything to it short of setting it on fire and it should br fine.
Willow?

 

[Tieball]

How about some photos? I'm curious to see the trunk you have and how coarse the growth is today.

 

[JasonRedwood]

Here's a photo. Don't mind all the yarn and spools of thread hanging from the tree, i'm trying an alternative to wiring. Since the willow's wood is so soft, and would need to be wired so much - i'm trying "weighting" the branches as an experiment. Also, the tree is not yet pruned from spring's growth, so it looks shaggy - and one more thing - the tree is grafted (not by me).