Kelton, I've been trying to figure out how to handle volunteer Red Buds, myself. We have some pitiful looking ones in the wooded area of the property that have just been crowded by other less desirable bushes and trees. We also have 3 or 4 volunteers in the front border that I just haven't done anything with yet.

Red Buds in the border are maybe 4 feet high if you straighten them out. But now they look like meager shrubs and I'm wondering if I should prune off any but the major limb, stake it, and tie the tree loosely to the stake to make it more tree like and less like a spray of Forsythia. What do you think? The big challenge is to find a place in the yard where it won't get mowed down "accidentally." Any suggestions on what to look for in these not-yet saplings to make the best choice for success? I'd like to share them with other family, but don't know if these are worth all the work. Particularly for family members who are not enthusiastic gardeners in the first place.

Kelton,

Has your lot been cleared recently (within the last few years)? The reason I ask is that redbuds will almost always resprout in that situation. You may have well established root systems sending up shoots. Also, even if the ones you are seeing are new seedlings (not regrowth), they have a much better root system than your transplants. Redbuds are notorious for being finicky to transplant. The ones you planted will only start growing at rates similar to permanent residents when their root system catches up with them. It usually takes a while for a redbud to decide it even wants to live when transplanted.

Chris,

Transplanting redbuds may be more difficult than many other trees, but it can be done. Most of the redbuds you see at nurseries are pot grown and root pruned. If you do decide to transplant yours and they make it after the trauma, give them a few years to get established and then chop them off at ground level just above the root collar in late winter/very early spring. Chances are about 97.643% (or at least real good) that they will resprout, and when they do, they'll send up a few nice straight trunks fairly quickly. Just remove all but one shortly after you see them, and keep an eye on the one you keep to make sure it develops a good branching habit, etc.

I have had a number of aging Oaks removed (which had the side effect of bringing more sun to the area), but the ground wasn't cleared or mowed.

For the volunteers, I usually just lop off the lowest branches as soon as I get around to it. I want to be able to wonder around under the canopy, so those go first.

I actually dug a few up and transplanted them in the winter. They struggled...and didn't grow fast either. Even their leaves remained weirdly small for a while... but they've got themselves together.

Some volunteers shot up so fast that they tilted waaaay over. (also the victims of my pruning) I staked them for a few months, and they are independently standing tall now.

I'm expecting that next year, the effect of the redbud canopy will be much more noticeable... I hope. I'm also hoping that the canopy eventually makes the "weeds on steroids" less of a problem.

Thanks Brandon.... very interesting as always

Did you plant your serviceberries in full sun (6+ hours per day)? They do best in that situation. Even so, I always feel that new plants take about 3 years to show good growth - the ol' "sleep, creep, leap" type of thing.

I hope they will do well for you soon, serviceberries are great trees.

No... not 6 hours. In fact, there may be only 10% of my property that gets 6 hours of sun.

In spite of that, most of my plantings are doing pretty darn well (considering).

The Natchez crape myrtles have done remarkably well, and they are notorious consumers of sun light! Myrtles that were thigh high two years ago are at high as my (one story) roof) and very full.

The service berries look very healthy, too.... just not the significant growth.