# Deciduous Defoliating

**URL:** <https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/deciduous-defoliating/3562>\
**Category:** Beginners\
**Created:** [June 24, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/deciduous-defoliating/3562 "2019-06-24T00:44:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Thatguywhoflys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Thatguywhoflys](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Thatguywhoflys)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/deciduous-defoliating/3562/1 "2019-06-24T00:44:51Z")

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I have most conifers but i have only 1 deciduous tree(bouganvillea) around what time is it ok to defoliate the leaves?(im scared i might kill the kill) And what is the reasoning for defoliating the tree, why not let nature take its course? Thanks guys

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**Author:** ![nmhansen](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.bonsaimirai.com/nmhansen/32/114_2.png) [@nmhansen](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/nmhansen)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 4:50am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/deciduous-defoliating/3562/2 "2019-06-24T04:50:52Z")

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You defoliate (or partially defoliate) when you are moving the tree into refinement. The recent post-flush pruning video is a great place to start with your question.

[https://live.bonsaimirai.com/library/video/deciduous-pruning-refinement](https://live.bonsaimirai.com/library/video/deciduous-pruning-refinement)

Sometimes it depends on what kind of deciduous tree you are working with.

Only defoliate a healthy tree.

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**Author:** ![Thatguywhoflys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Thatguywhoflys](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/u/Thatguywhoflys)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2019, 4:55am UTC](https://forum.bonsaimirai.com/t/deciduous-defoliating/3562/3 "2019-06-24T04:55:13Z")

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Thank you that was very helpful