Prune Pansy Redbud

10 years ago

I have a forest pansy redbud that I planted this spring in April. It has been growing really well, and has really added to our landscape.

At 5ft off the ground, there is a V in the branches. The left side is growing well, and carries the most branches on the top of the tree. The right of the V is straight up, and growing, but is less dominate than the left side of the V.

The problem I have is the left side that is growing better, has some damaged bark. Is the damage something to be worried about long term if I let it grow? Or should I prune it out now or wait until after the leaves fall?

Here are photos of what I am trying to describe.

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Comments (7)

Embothrium
10 years ago
Cut off the crossing branch and leave the rest.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
why is it wearing a black hose???

and where is the root flare??

ken
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I looked at my Forest Pansy again for you - it did start budding last week (unusually warm), but I think it got stunted after that (colder now), as it never reached that full, covered in pink flowers look. Some buds look stunted, but on a couple tiny red leaves are staring to appear. Again, mine is established. As for box stores versus nurseries - I agree, the loss of nurseries royally sucks. The real problem (at least on Long Island, NY), is that the only remaining nurseries are so extremely high-end that it is truly impossible to shop there. We used to have a chain called Frank's Nursery and Crafts - they went under a few years ago, and no one has filled the void. Their prices were similar to the box stores, but their stock was in great shape and every store had a certified horticulturist on site and all managers were required to take horticultural classes. Their bankruptcy was blamed on bad management, but in reality they could not compete when HD and Lowes moved in down the street - HD and Lowes always sell their stuff well-below wholesale when they first open - forcing local businesses to go under. Today the prices are more normal. I bought a TON of shrubs from Lowes, HD this year, but only because I needed a ton (I'm getting rid of my grass, and we lost a huge tree last month). They are not the most unique, but they were too cheap to pass up. My tactic is to use cheaper plants as bulk, and then invest in unique shrubs as the specimens. I order most of my stuff from online nurseries now. Last year I got a Fernspray Gold Hinoki Cypress online for $35 (I'd wanted it for years and couldn't find it locally); before I ordered it I called the two best nurseries around, and the one that had it wanted $250 for a 30" high plant! Mine is about 24" - I ordered the 18", but they were out of that size so they upgraded me at no charge. Please tell me how one nursery can charge $35 (probably should be $50 for that size), while the local nurseries charge $250? That is why so many nurseries go out of business - they charge WAY TOO MUCH! Especially when all any customer needs to do is go online and compare prices. I would NEVER buy a tree from a box store though - I get fruit trees from fruit tree specialists, and shade/ ornamentals from tree specialists or native tree specialists. I bought a Mac Apple from HD years ago and that was the worst thing ever - it was already pruned into the wrong form, and although I have fixed all the bad branches, there is nothing I can do about the vase-shape, so I really do not like that tree (but I feel guilty about chopping it down and replacing it, since it is so large now). Prices at the box stores are not much better on trees and specialty perennials, though. By me they want $40 for fruit trees - normal price from a specialist is $20-30, depending on variety. Most perennials are the same cost as online, and online nurseries have a much better selection. I bought mostly Rhodis, Azaleas, Pieris and Mountain Laurels this year from them. But, for unique Rhodis I shop at Rhodi specialists (we used to have a specialist nursery near me, but they went out of business a few years ago :( I bought 4 PJM Rhodis ($7 small, $30 large), 5 Purple Gem Rhodis ($15 each, large size), and 5 Silver Sword Azaleas ($7 each); the prices could not be beat. Lowes had beautiful Mountain Laurels for $25, and I grabbed 2 because they are IMPOSSIBLE to find around here (even though they are native). I had purchased one from a new local nursery a few years ago, but it was so root-bound (I paid $35 during the 30% off sale), that I could not perform effective surgery, so I threw it out and replaced it this year (still no new roots). You basically have to know what you are purchasing - what to look for in a plant to make sure it is worth purchasing. All my online purchases have been great, except TyTyga (sp?) in Georgia - do NOT buy from them - bad trees.
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if you have a warranty .. i would exercise such .. or at least contact the seller .... otherwise... more leaves.. means more food... means more roots.. means faster recovery ... cutting off live branches would therefore not be in the trees best interest.. at this time. .. give it some time.. ken
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Nana, no, don't seal the ends - the cuts will be too small to matter. It's up to you whether or not to shorten any branches - as the tree grows this year, the branches will thicken and most likely straighten as well - but you can certainly do so. Just remember to follow the good pruning principles of cutting to a smaller branch going in the direction you want, to the trunk or to a bud facing the direction you want the growth to go. Don't shorten lower branches more than higher-up branches, trim so that the lower ones can still get sun on them. Keep your pruner sharp. You can take out any branch that is crossing or rubbing another branch, to the point that future growth hopefully won't cross or rub either. Do look carefully at the tree before you cut, and try to visualize what it will look like without THAT branch. If in doubt, take off half what you thought needed to come off and look again to see if that was enough. If still doubtful, you can go away and come back later to do more trimming - branches can always be cut later, but gluing them back on doesn't work!
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I am not in your zone, but I do love redbuds and have several varieties. I love Forest Pansy, but should disclose that without a fair amount of sun it just turns into dark, not red, leaves, similar to many of the Japanese maples. Obviously if you plant it as an understory tree like most redbuds want, the window of opportunity for really red leaves is slim, as the tree will no longer be red when the trees above it are in full leaf. Best location seems to be almost full sun if you want to keep it red. Of course, it has an oversized leaf, so that also means that it will need to be monitored more often to make sure it does not wilt down, which many of the fancies will do. I do offer up the Hearts of Gold is another newer variety that is supposed to do well out in full or almost full sunlight, with oversized leaves and the color of a golden delicious apple. What a beauty. All of these newer varieties were accidental seedlings discovered by someone who caught that they were special, many at a young age. Yes, they are patented and propagated via graft, so you are supposed to have a permit to produce more of these trees. Also, a plus for some, these guys tend to set very little, if any, seed. Lavender Twist will set less than 30 pods on an adult tree, all 25% the size of a normal pod, all sterile. I have seen seed for Forest Pansy offered on Ebay with the disclaimer that it may not breed true, but I am very suspicious that the seed may have been harvested from any branches belonging to the root parent, making it plain old redbud from the forest, but not a Forest Pansy. Don't forget some of the older varieties - Oklahoma redbud, the Texas redbud, and the weeping redbud, Traveller. Traveller is the one I want, but couldn't find at anywhere a resonable price. My Lavender Twist is similar, but not the same. A problem that I do not see addressed is predation of young trees by deer. Of course, in NJ, deer prey on most plants. They will chomp off a 2 or 3 year old tree at the base, and strip the leaves off of the lower limbs of older trees. Imagine my surprise to walk out and see a whole you could drive a car through in my Lavender Twist. They had eaten leaves, branches, twigs, everything but the trunk. I know that many do not like to hear this, but they are as bad as any noxious pest we freely kill - rats, mice, or groundhogs, for a few. So destructive, populations soaring as they have found new buffets of food as the gardeners foolishly believe that there is anything you can grow that the deer will not learn to eat. OK, that was my pet peeve for the day. Plant those redbuds, make the world a more beautiful place, one tree at a time. Happy gardening!
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tmal14
Original Author
10 years ago
The black hose is a tree wrap I put on to protect the bark from critters. At least I was under the impression I should do that.

The root flare is right at the top of the soil, it's hard to see, but it was the one thing I knew I needed to watch out for when I planted the tree.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
good on the root flare..

the black thing is bugging me... its black.. its going to make the trunk hot..

i vaguely see shadows.... i would get some proper tree guards.. to avoid winter sunscald in z5 ...

and please... very frankly .... on your next tree... buy it at half the height...

you did NOT do good.. buying such a spindly-trunked tree ... i presume you thought to yourself.. good.. more height... but you should now understand.. that it can barely hold itself up with the leaves on it.. and staking it is near impossible..

smaller trees.. get established faster.. and outgrow larger transplant.. you save about half the cost ... and most of the trouble ... it was a hard lesson in my formative tree years to understand.. there is no instant gratification on trees....short of spending thousands of dollars for professional installation of big trees ....

as to your staking.. i have no answer.. i did that ONCE!!!! .. and a mid summer thunderstorm/windstorm.. snapped it right at the point where it is attached.. the big sailboat of a canopy.. just cracked it right in half .... it recovered after a few year ... with some very creative pruning ... i can already see the tree is beating the stake.. giving it a hockey stick curve .... and the attaching wire looks taut as a bow string ...

based on all that... i MIGHT consider removing the branch with the wound.. if for no other reason.. to reduce the sail effect of the canopy .... and reduce wind resistance.... it really does go against doing such on a recent transplant.... but as the tree stands.... its an option i might have to consider ...

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR WHAT THE REST OF YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS ...

the one upside might be if the house blocks prevailing storm winds ....

ken
Sara Malone Zone 9b
10 years ago
One comment about the size/slender trunk is that the lower branches should not have been removed. The longer that they can be left on, generally the better as they help the tree develop trunk girth. It took me years to learn this as I was always itching to cut them off and make it look more 'tree-like'. Once gone, that trunk is gonna have a hard time increasing girth no matter what else happens. As Ken says, there is no rushing a tree. My arborist always talks about 'tree time' and how we have to adapt ourselves to it.

Sara
mulchmama
10 years ago
I wouldn't remove anything except for the crossing branch coming off the leader with the split bark, and I would hold off cutting off anything else.

Agree with Ken -- the black hose has to go. You might only need a tree wrap in the winter, mainly to protect thin bark from frost cracking.

Kind of disagree with Ken about the staking. I know what is recommended. I know what our Extension agent says. I also know some trees blow over easier than others when they're newly planted, and my K-State-edumacated arborist was happy to see we had staked newly planted honeylocusts two years ago (they're no longer staked). We're in Kansas, where the wind off the Plains is second only to the wind from the Statehouse.

Finally -- agree again with Ken about buying small trees -- with one exception. If you are putting in a real slow grower, I'd recommend getting a larger tree than, say, a redbud that grows very fast. Our neighbors planted a couple Black Gum trees five years ago when they (the trees, not the neighbors) were less than two ft. tall. They're healthy, but they're just about two-ft tall now. We put in five 8-ft tall Black Gums two years ago, and they actually look like trees now. Iplanted a redbud seedling two years ago, in a berm with great soil. That thing is 6-ft tall now and it bloomed this year. I love free trees.

Also, if you're getting to the latter end of middle age, larger-caliper trees might be worth it.
nurseryman33
10 years ago
Agree with those who say cut that crossing branch off the left leader now.Then send another photo of the entire top after the leaves fall off.

Prune Pansy Redbud

Comments (7)

Embothrium

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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tmal14
Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Sara Malone Zone 9b

mulchmama

nurseryman33

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Prune Pansy Redbud

Comments (7)

Embothrium

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Related Discussions

tmal14Original Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Sara Malone Zone 9b

mulchmama

nurseryman33

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tmal14
Original Author