Xtremehorticulture

Eastern Redbud Can Pose Problems in Las Vegas Landscapes

Readers eastern redbud problems. It is an understory tree in the Eastern
United States and will struggle in our alkaline soils and extremes of
temperature, humidity and high light intensities. It is also planted in a
rock landscape or desert Xeriscape.
Q. I am sending you some pictures of my Eastern redbud
tree. It has some problems and I want to know how to correct these.

A. The redbud problem is pretty common with the Eastern
type, our soils and climate. Western Redbud is a bit more tolerant than the
Eastern Redbud of our conditions and would be a preferred tree for the Western
United States.

            Western
redbud may not be easy to find in the nurseries but it is worth a look. Another
tree that might be even a better selection for you would be the Mexican Redbud
which looks very similar and would give you the same impact as the Eastern
Redbud. Actually in some circles the Mexican redbud is considered a “form” or
selection of the Western redbud.

Readers eastern redbud. She has put wood mulch around
the tree which is good. The water from the irrigation
will help to decompose the wood mulch and improve the
soil. Unfortunately this may not be enough for this tree
to do well.
            The problem
you are seeing on the leaves, scorching and discoloration, will always be a
problem with this tree in this climate and soils. Eastern redbud is an “understory
tree” in the eastern part of the United States which means it does not handle
full sun very well even in the cooler parts of this country.

            I
usually encourage people to try something new but this is a small tree that you
would have to babysit for many years to come even if you’ve found the right
spot for it. I would encourage you to look for the Mexican redbud if this is
going into a desert or rock type landscape.

          Below is
a hyperlink that will take you to a site that talks about Mexican Redbud.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant%20html%20files/Cercis%20mexicana.JPG

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