There is too little information in the provided quote, and too many variables involved in any transplantation situation to make a blanket statement as an answer.
Would Bill (or anyone) advocate this practice with, say, a needled conifer? A broadleaf evergreen like rhododendron, live oak, or American holly?
This is an anecdotal story about one tree. No information about category of tree or initial condition just makes this a big chest-thumper of a debate, but hey I'm game.
To assume that the leaves needed to be removed in order for the tree to not dry out and die assumes that inadequate root system was present or inadequate water supply was going to be provided. Not good planning, to start with. As growin has indicated, deficient roots can be overcome by adequate application of moisture, both at the roots and as humidity/cooling to the foliage (if the plant is in leaf). This can, and has been, accomplished not only at commercial enterprises but in finished landscapes. Not cheap, though. And point in growth cycle (again as mentioned by growin) as well as category and species of plant makes all kinds of difference in how a plant will respond not only to root reduction but also to foliage removal. This is the basis of standards in the nursery industry. If the tree was approaching dormancy, I'd agree with growin that this wouldn't be detrimental, but I'd also venture it was unnecessary. Either move the tree later, or apply moisture until dormancy occurred. The more I ponder this, the more it sounds like alchemy and charlatanism.
"This forced the tree to put out hair roots to survive... Proven, how? No other causal factor or normal response to root pruning (transplantation) can initiate hair root production on transplanted trees? This mostly falls into the category of belief in spontaneous generation, which if I remember from my high school biology, went out sometime after the Middle Ages when people figured out puddles didn't form frogs.
It worked. One tree survived transplantation, and I'd venture in spite of being denuded of foliage. This is not enough information to begin to make categorical statements about the practice, much less inspire one to apply the technique.
Expiscation: Congrats, you made me vent (Vesuvius Valley?). I'm curious to hear from others as well on this, or about other off-the-beaten-path techniques. I know you lifted this from a parallel thread on this forum, and I hope Bill from Newfoundland doesn't take the above comments as attacks. They are not. My comments are pointed at the belief in the idea (not the poster), unquestioned, because that makes for egregious errors in execution or implementation.
