Watering well when you water, without drowning it, will help - check to see if the rootball is dry, for the first week or two, and then check the soil next to the root ball, as the tree begins to grow its roots out into the soil. Water only if the top few inches of soil are dry, once you have thoroughly wet it all - stick a finger down and check. Some degree of shade - see above. But, if you can, gradually cut it back - the tree will have to adjust to the spot sooner or later... Mulch the area around the tree - as wide as you can, no deeper than 4" and no mulch in the 2-4" next to the trunk. Most potted plants, including trees, will make it as long as they are well watered, and don't get sun-burned. Even if the tree loses up to half its leaves, it will probably live - if it loses too many leaves, it will probably sprout new ones. Look after it well, but don't baby it too much.

In my opion you need to have it planted in at least a 5 gallon bucket with good drainage hole cut out of the bottom. Set the potted tree under a dappled shade canopy of a mature tree or other such equal type of dappled shade light. Then keep the tree in that 5 gallon pot until just prior to its leaf buds swell next February. At that time take the tree out to the woods and plant it in a sunny location or clearing between the other trees. If it is a park where you plant it, install a bark protector around the trunk, and metal landscape edging or a circle of rocks around the tree at a distance of about a two feet away from the tree. Remove all grass and weeds within the edging, and add a 2 inch depth of mulch, but make sure to pull any mulch away from the trunk for a distance of at least 4 inches. By your doing all this, the city mowers may avoid mowing it down without realizing that it is a quality tree. If the city does not provide supplimental watering for the vegetation in the park; then you will need to, at least once a week and every few days if the weather is extremely hot and dry, take a 5 gallon bucket of water out to the tree; along with an empty five gallon bucket with a few small holes in the bottom. Set the empty bucket near or just lightly uphill from the tree. use a smaller pitcher to scoop out the water and pour it into the emply bucket with the small holes in the bottom. Wait until all the water slowly waters the tree, before you remove the your watering bucket for reuse next time. Continue the supplimental watering until the fall rains begin to occur. Then wait until the following spring or summer to check to see if the tree needs your help with extra watering any more. Most likely by then the tree will only need once a week watering in the driest parts of that year. Any years after that the tree should have enough root development to survive without you providing it with extra water.

Thank you very much for your input on this mess. An excellent tree man was out here this week regarding another job on the property. He looked at these redbuds and instructed the welder/yard man how to go about digging/moving the redbuds. He also suggested that he ( tree man) could delegate one of his men to help out with that. We'll try one tree first and see how it goes. Coincidentally a good landscaper was out here today regarding another project. He said the tap roots on the redbuds could be growing down, or they could be growing laterally into the woods behind. He also said the tap roots could be intermingled No way to know what's there until we try one. We will move them to a nearby adjacent area. A grove of them ... if it looks like the first one moved was a decent effort. Otherwise? we'll give it up. So at this point, we're going to try moving one tree and see what we find. Most probably next week. Also, I've found a source for FREE redbud saplings - from a friend. Yeah. Either way this goes re moving those redbuds? I'm looking forward to getting the saplings. Thanks so much for your help. And, I'll let you know how the transplant effort goes. Guess it's just too hard to abandon them entirely without giving it a try. ML

Then no doubt they interfere with photosynthesis of the plant so keeping their numbers down would be to your advantage. By this time of year tree leaves can turn because of dryness or they have fulfilled their obligation for the season. But if noticed earlier in the season, I'd sure try to keep the numbers down. It doesn't take all that much to disrupt the activities of small insects. A season with heavy rains is many times enough to reduce the number of ants and other colonizing insects. I've noticed dry weather is the worst time for insects to manifest themselves in full force, around here anyways. :-)