New growth on Texas White Redbud

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tulieliz Bent, NM Aug 08, 2010

I received this five foot tall redbud from a reputable online retailer in early-mid June. The retailer insisted that I didn't need to ship the tree via expedited means despite the heat wave in the West. Needless to say, my redbud arrived with completly shriveled leaves which soon fell off. I didn't want to lose faith and hence have housed it on my covered deck ever since. I read that if it has no leaves it should not be placed in the sun. The retailer told me that it MIGHT develop new growth but it would take a couple of weeks. Two months later, my redbud has a three inch sucker near it's base (the kind you would normally remove). I would appreciate anyone's advice on the following: Should I trim the tree back to stimulate further growth? Should I now give it some sun? Should I plant it now in it's fragile state or wait until fall? Daytime temps here in New Mexico are still nearing the high 80's (Zone 6b). Many Thanks.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 08, 2010

I'm not sure about trimming it back--I'd probably leave it alone for now since the sucker sounds like it's the only part of the tree that's showing any life. Unless the tree was grafted--if that's the case then the sprout is the rootstock and not the tree you wanted. I would not put it in the sun--even when it's perfectly healthy redbuds are an understory tree and will appreciate some shade in your hot climate so I'd keep it somewhere fairly shady. And I would definitely not plant it now--summer's not the best time to plant things even if they're healthy to begin with, so if you try to plant a severely stressed plant during hot weather I don't think it would have a very good chance.

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