Redbud vs. Dogwood

I want to plant a small tree fairly near our water garden to provide a little dappled shade and a nice place to put a bench.

Right now I'm leaning towards either Redbud 'Forest Pansy' or one of the native Dogwoods (C. florida?) 'Plena'--with Forest Pansy currently in favor.

Ideally it won't be too messy, roots will not travel out to damage the (man-made) pond, but will be sited about 15' feet away to make a little afternoon shade.

My mother has a beautiful redbud, so I know that in early spring when it blooms there will be a few weeks when there will be a lot of active pollinators on it.

What am I not taking into consideration? Which will grow fastest into a nice sit-underneath-on-a-bench tree?

Any and all thoughts and suggestions will be appreciated!

Teresa
(zone 7, AA Co., Maryland)

I planted C. Florida "Cherokee Princess" and Forest Pansy last Fall. Someone told me that Forest Pansy would have a better color display if it wasn't in too much sun, so it is in dappled shade (truly an understory location). The Princess gets a lot more sun. Both are doing well, though I have been watering a lot through July and I guess I will be in August too.

My novice's impression is that the Princess will be growing considerably faster. Of course it was maybe 2 feet taller than the Pansy when I planted them, but its growth has increased more than the Pansy's in height. I'm really liking the Pansy, but compared to the Princess it seems more... ruffly? Delicate? I would think maybe a decade before it had enough substance to act as a light shade tree itself. The Princess would give some nice dappled shade in maybe 2-3 years at the rate it is growing now.

The Pansy is lovely to look at, Can you have both? Sit under the Dogwood and admire the Pansy?

Roots - not of concern for me where I planted them. Have never heard of aggressive root systems being a consideration for either. I had to commit the coup de grace on a C Florida that was very close to my driveway for a few decades. The roots never disturbed the macadam.

The only downside to redbuds is that they are pretty slow growers. Native dogwoods do better as an understory tree or with a bit of afternoon shade. They are also very susceptible to antthracnose. You might want to consider Kousa dogwoods which do better in the sun, aren't as liable to disease and are just as beautiful in my view.

Roger

Magnolia 'Jane', find one that is tree form, rather than the shrub form.

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/magnoli1.html

humbly speaking only from my personal experience in my yard, but the redbuds I have (volunteers from mom's old nursery redbud) grow much faster then my native volunteer dogwoods. As in, RBs adding feet of stem where DWs adding inches. I do have canker on redbuds though, which has taken out branches at a time.