Working Compound Leaf

Wild Tamarind

Biggest concern when working with Compound Leaf trees is their dieback
tendencies. With some, this is not really a problem, but with others... careful
consideration should be taken into account when cutting, and one should always
cut further out from where they want to cut, to allow for this. At a later date, when
that portion has died back, it can be reduced further.

They do not heal over cuts very well. In fact often with most large cuts like when
one removes a thick branch, they will not heal over at all. If one cuts these branches
flush, often the area around the base of where the branch was will die too.

When trimming foliage it is best to retain the thorns that are sometimes found on
compounds, these often are where buds are located, so if removed, nothing will grow
from that area. On others, the buds are often located at the base of the leaf or leaf
stem. So when removing a leaf leave a little section and do not cut flush, prevents
dieback, and removal of buds.

Lastly, I will often go through and thin out my trees, to help let light in and promote
new growth further in. I do this reducing the amount of leaf on each stem. So, with
trees that are single compound like Campeche, I will cut back to the first or second
node on each leaf. If the leaf is very small like the Brazilian Raintree has, I will just
go through and remove some leaves altogether.

If the tree you are working on is double-compounded like the wild-tamarind in the first
post, you would want to cut back to the first branch on the leaf.

I didn't know about shortening the leaf to a node or 2. Good tip. Thanks!

So far I have not seen any die back on my Campeche or BRT...and I almost always prune to the 1st or 2nd node. I do leave some of the stalk so I always cut around middle of the nodes.

Poink88 said:

I didn't know about shortening the leaf to a node or 2. Good tip. Thanks!

So far I have not seen any die back on my Campeche or BRT...and I almost always prune to the 1st or 2nd node. I do leave some of the stalk so I always cut around middle of the nodes.

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Campeche and BRT are really some of the best for not having to much dieback. It really only
becomes evident on them more when large cuts are made, and they will not heal over, and
often the area right around this cut will die as well.

So with BRT would you recommend leaving the thorns?

Gaitano said:

So with BRT would you recommend leaving the thorns?

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I would... getting stuck with them all just part of working with a species that have
thorns. After a while of working on them and other plants like Bougies, Campeche,
Texas Ebony, etc. you don't even notice them anymore.

Only time I remove is when there is an area I don't want any foliage to pop up on, like
the trunk or back at the base of a branch. Also, the underside of a branch.

Speaking of Raintrees, Here is a small one
I repotted today along with a million other things
I did. Height of tree is 9 inches, this was a tree
from a 30 min style contest, that was $25 dollars
to enter and you keep the tree, that I participated
in a year ago. Starting to fill in nicely.

As far as thorn removal goes; I just cut them short so they don't stab me.
I've seen 4" thorns on BRT before and if you just cut it so the poker doesn't poke, you don't risk removing the adventitious bud.
I prefer not to be stabbed though.
Bucida Spinosa has the worst thorns (its not a compound leaf) of them all though because they're so damn small, you don't see them and they're too small to remove.


Honestly though, I like the idea of keeping the thorns for show and tell, or it would be cool to see an impaled lizard; but I just don't like to get stabbed while wiring/pruning.

carp said:

As far as thorn removal goes; I just cut them short so they don't stab me.
I've seen 4" thorns on BRT before and if you just cut it so the poker doesn't poke, you don't risk removing the adventitious bud.
I prefer not to be stabbed though.
Bucida Spinosa has the worst thorns (its not a compound leaf) of them all though because they're so damn small, you don't see them and they're too small to remove.


Honestly though, I like the idea of keeping the thorns for show and tell, or it would be cool to see an impaled lizard; but I just don't like to get stabbed while wiring/pruning.

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I would agree about Black olives, their thorns are a pain !!!

Cat's Claw thorns are the worst for me (no experience w/ Bucida Spinosa so cannot compare).

Re: thorn removal...I do but like carp, I leave a small portion so I do not damage the buds at the base.

Thought I would load up some more examples of compound leaf trees
that I am working on. Well, actually the first one I sold, it is a Texas Ebony.
They are very nice to work with, very easy !!! They have tight close-nit leaves
like a Brazilian Raintree. and have very, very small thorns, that are sharp as can be.
The second tree is a larger Brazilian Raintree.

Anyone have some pics of compounds, please post them up for others to see.

I cut my brt leaves like you illustrated in your pic to keep it thinned out. I do this as soon as they are big enough for my scissors to snip between them. The two leaves left then go on to develope just fine.