Amazing maple!!!
 

One week ago I did a Japanese maple bonsai. I pruned, potted, and wired. The next day I found out from my uncle who also does bonsai, that I did it at the wrong time of year, and that it will most likely die. He said the only way to maybe save it was to cut all of it's leaves off. And they should grow back within a month after a month with no leaves that would mean it's dead. To y surprise, one week exactly from defoliation, new leaves!!!!

plants do like to surprise you... i found out yesterday morning that my tuberose send up a stalk after so much neglect. i used to pamper the plant, give fertilizer, water and weeding etc etc but it didn't send any. then i got tired of it and basically neglect the pot and it send a stalk???

There's absolutely no reason that the bonsai treatment should kill a Japanese maple at any time of year. Removing the leaves could only weaken the tree at precisely the time it needs energy to heal. It sounds like it will survive just fine though. I hope it matures into a lovely specimen.

it wasnt the right time of year to disturb the plant. you arent supposed to prune or repot into bonsai after the leaves have developed in the spring. if it was just a normal transplant maybe it would be ok. but i now know for sure that when potting up in a bonsai container, because you need to cut so many of the roots.

defoliating the tree makes the tree go into a dormant state for a short time and then helps it survive the trauma somehow.

i hope it develops into a nice specimin it looks nice now, but i cant wait till it grows out more