Redbud Creates Shade

I love my Redbud tree. We planted it in August, 2004, so now it is nearly 12 years in the ground. It blooms in late April to early May. It is one of the earlier trees to bloom, and most other trees have little to no leaves at that time. The blooms are right along the bark (almost no stem), and the tree looks wispy and fragile in bloom. The leaves start to come out, and the blooms fall away, and suddenly there is a full, flush, dense tree. I am always amazed by the difference. The above bloom pic is from May, 2010.

 

Here’s what it looked like in April, 2005 (above).

Years ago, my husband lived in Roanoke, VA. When I visited, we would usually take a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I loved seeing the Redbud trees in bloom, tucked away in the trees along the edge of the road.

Here it is, leafed out, in August, 2007 (above). Notice that you can barely see the branches.

Here’s 2001, May and September (above). During that summer, we expanded the bed under the Redbud and along the west neighbor’s garage (the brown garage). Note the different placement of the edging stones from May to September. The sad, scraggly, black-spot riddled Roses in front of the Redbud are 5 of my ‘Nearly Wild’ Roses. They had been living cramped, stunted lives in pots on the patio.

Here’s May, 2013 (above) – the roses have perked up a bit.

 














Here’s May, 2015 (above). The Bleeding Heart has decided that it REALLY likes the shade of the Redbud tree and has spread quite a bit. The Roses are starting to get shaded, and I decided to move the Rose that was the most in the shade out to the left where the stump of the Plum tree is (not shown). I thought that would be enough. The remaining Roses would get plenty of sun. And, last summer, they did get plenty of sun.

Here’s 2016, May and June (above). I think the bottom branches of the Redbud grew outward by 2 feet! All the Roses are now being shaded. I think I might be looking for new spots for my Roses. And maybe moving some Astilbes into this area. And so things change in my garden.