md4958

Blake,

fall is a good time of year to prune because you can see the branch structure with out the leaves in the way. Take care to seal all wounds with cutpaste so that they do not dry out during the long winter. Also, err on the side of caution when pruning because many species, maples included, will "dieback" the the next bud, shoot, branch, etc...

The deformed leaves might be from your leave pinching. You may have inadvertantly damaged the bud while you were pinching. It could be a pest too, I would check closely to see if there are any insects on your tree that might be causing the mutation.

TUNA,
When you say you leaf pinched...what are you talking about? Are you confusing pinching with defoliating (where you cut all the leaves off the tree)? If you did in fact PINCH then you should still have leaves on the tree....if they fell off, then youve got an issue. if you DEFOLIATED, and you dont have leaves yet...give it some time. Remember when you defoliate your tree wont use as much water as when it has full leaves.

More info will be required for a better diagnosis.

Best of luck,
Moe

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"Bonsai do not belong to us; it is our responsibility to care for them and pass them on to future generations"