Combining leader growth and defoliating for trunk development?

[Wood]

My collection is mostly stick-in-pot that I'll be growing out for quite a while, and I can't quite wrap my head around one dichotomy. I'm only wondering about multi-flush deciduous trees, and let's use a trident maple for example. I think I'm missing some horticultural knowledge. Any explanations would be super helpful

Larger foliar mass drives thickening of the trunk, and the conventional wisdom is to let one leader extend and accumulate that foliar mass, which drives the thickening of the trunk. Defoliating a branch will double the number of shoots on that branch, which would greatly increase the foliar mass.

Would combining the two techniques speed up trunk development/thickening? If I already have an extended leader that isn't ready to be cut yet, could I defoliate the leader above the intended cut to gain foliar mass quickly? In the short term, you're removing leaves and pausing vascular growth, but would the increased leaves accelerate later growth more quickly?

 

[TomB]

If you want growth, don't defoliate. Defoliation is a technique for (some) trees in the refinement stage. You'll get more foliar mass just by letting it grow.

 

[SeanS]

You want big leaves and unrestricted growth when trying to thicken something. Defoliating would take the extension energy to just regrow the leaves.