scoring the sides of a root bound plant is NOT sufficient ... when the leaves fall off.. pull it out ... hose off all soil.. and you might be shocked at what little you did with the scoring ... replant at proper height.. in a hole sized as suggested.. NO SOIL AMENDMENTS ... as per this weekends wind.. did the tree move at all??? .... if not.. then whats the point of all the roping??? .. dylan said it best when he said: the answer my friend .... is blowing in the wind ... when i plant in my sand.. once back filled about 66% .. i step in there.. and really tamp down the soil ... while insuring it doesnt end up too deep ... my soil is obviously not your clay soil.. but if you are so lightly setting it in the hole ... then that is your potential problem... in heavy clay soil.. many recommend actually planting about half of the root mass above grade.. and making a berm or mound with good soil ... ken

There are times you just have to guess, based on available information, and extrapolate the rest. Compare the region of Italy in question the preferred habitat of eastern redbud, and then consider the tendency of trees with certain colors of leaves to perform, or fail to perform, under certain conditions. Now we get to talk about the one factor unable to be controlled, and that's people. If I were to talk about Forest Pansy as preferring light shade, I may have one set of conditions in mind, namely, just not in direct sunlight all day. Someone else may take that to mean it needs shade, the deeper the better. Someone else, who has absolutely no shade but really, really likes the plant, is going to take it to mean that sun is no problem. Completely opposite interpretations of the same piece of advice, and both are going to hold you accountable should their experience go south. Yeppers. Anything that has a certain leaf color is going to develop the best color the more sun it gets. Just look at just about any burgundy leaved tree...the outer parts of the leaf canopy are colored as advertised, but the interior is often green, at best a very light shade of reddish green. So sun for best color, but then we start moving plants around, and that's where the fun comes in. Eastern US, with the rainfall and humidity of the summer, compared to the Mediterranean sun...yeah, safe to say some shade is desired, but how much...no one has done a light intensity study comparing different climates, so it's all speculation. Everyone has a chance to be right, because the odds of someone doing such a study are extremely low. One of the best pieces of advice comes from one of the more respected and criticized voices in the horticultural lexicon. You're taking a chance. If it pays off, you have something no one else is going to have, but the risk is, you may lose it. The choice is yours.

Bonnie, the new growth is the brightest color. That is why last summer only the one oddly fast growing branch was bright. I have a number of redbuds but haven't really paid THAT much attention to their growth spurts. I bet they all show "rising sun" colors in the spring and it is a bit more subdued later in the year.

Please note that my comment is about the Raising sun not about the Hearts of Gold and so is @girlnamedgalez8a's This is quite unlikely to make a significant difference over the long run. And you may not think having your tree cut to the fence line by the neighbor is of any consequence now but wait until it actually happens - there is no need to choose a tree with a low spreading habit and then put it close to the neighbor. Also whatever you expect the existing neighbor to do or not do becomes moot if he leaves and somebody new with a completely different approach moves in.