Acers

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Category: Acers

Published: 01 Oct 2025

• pruning

Anticipating to pruning your Japanese Maple right on time? This is one of the best autumn maintenance tutorials on Acer palmatum bonsai I have seen to date.  Graham Potter of Kaizen Bonsai shares meticulously why the timing is so important and how to pay attention to pruning, detailing his vision of long term development of his tree.

Why should we prune our Japanese Mape right before leaf drop ?

Graham Potter: "the reason to prune the tree right before the leaves naturally drop is because we've got a few weeks where it's not going to be typically cold. So even if the tree has no leaves, the roots are still actively pushing nutrients into the tree and the buds. For that reason, the growth in the spring will be much more even.  This is the benefit of this pruning."

Read more: Acer palmatum Autumn Maintenance