Instead of waiting for the buds to leaf out on my main trunk and then cut them off later on, has anyone just removed the buds on unwanted areas before they leafed out? I figure if I removed the buds, i wouldn't have to cut the unwanted branches off later on and the save energy from leafing out can be redirected to other parts of the tree. Not sure if my thinking/logic is correct? Just wanted to know if that is a good practice or not as I am still new to maples, especially pruning. Thanks in advance for your replies.
Pruning method for me is different from maple to maple, platanoides , palmatum ,saccarum etc .for every I prune different ;which maple have you?Temperature ? min/max.
I have been told by nursery staff who specialize in Japanese maples that you can certainly "rub off" the buds as you are suggesting. It makes logical sense to do this, as you stated, especially if they're popping up on the main trunk.
I have always done this with my maples. I just rub by hands over the trunk/stems when I see new sprouts coming out where I don't want them, especially below the graft. It just seems the easiest thing to do, especially with some that grow more "twiggy" for me like A.palm. 'Butterfly'.
Dr.Cindy and Kaydye: Thanks for the replies, I just wanted to get a reassurance that doing so will not harm the tree in any way.
It's done all the time in bonsai to avoid the scars and bumps that might result from unwanted growth.
I fully agree with the answers as long as the buds are not terminal. Removing terminal buds may result ( and I insist 'may' not 'will') in branch dieback. I know the question was on lateral buds but 'just in case' some readers may be tempted to generalize. Gomero
