Sunlight needs of the redbud tree

10 years ago

The spot I was going to put my redbud - its at the edge of being underneath canopy of very tall black walnut and some other trees. It gets LOTS of direct sun throughout spring (as trees are leafing out) and throughout even mid-late August probably a good 6-8 hours at least - the sun is overhead and as it swings around to the west it lights up the whole area under the tall trees. However now that the sun is lower its only getting sun in the late afternoon as it moves around to the other side of the tall trees - a couple hours maybe before it goes behind a building which shades my yard. Again this has to do with angle of sun - mid summer its much higher and doesn't go behind the building until later in the day.

Is my redbud going to be OK in this situation. My understanding is that its "understory" tree - not sure what that means exactly, how close underneath a large tree you could plant it. This one would be about 18 feet from the trunk of the tall walnut. THANKS!!!

Featured Answer

Debbie Downer
Original Author

10 years ago

Overthinking... well, OK. Critique of my thought process is always welcome, although largely irrelevant to the question at hand. Appreciate the "go for it" though - I'll take that as a yes.

Thanks ev - I just like to have some reasonable idea it will work - before investing 5 years of my life watching and waiting for something to grow. And partial shade can mean all kinds of things. Re growth habit I think itll be OK there because Ill only or mostly viewing it from one side, direction sun is shining from. Greenthumb- that helps to visualize how the plants are layered - had been thinking I wanted some shrubs next to and sandwiched between the redbud and blackwalnut, and I love the idea of the bloodroots and trilliums filling in the rest in a kind of naturalized way.

Comments (11)

greenthumbzdude
10 years ago
good news is that redbud is one of few trees that can tolerate black walnut.... black walnut produce a toxin in their roots that poisons nearby trees/plants. 18 feet is fine; it should be okay there. Understory is refering to the layers of a forest. Forests occurs in layers starting with the tallest which is call the canopy (oaks and pines are examples) followed by smaller trees in subcanopy (red maple, sassafras) then even smaller trees in the understory (redbuds, dogwoods, holly). The shrub layer (spicebush, azaleas) occurs below the understory and the herbaceous layer (bloodroot, trilliums) is below that.
j0nd03
10 years ago
Sounds like a perfect spot! You are zn4 and fall is rapidly approaching. The amount of sunlight it receives close to dormancy isn't near as important as the sun it receives in the heart of the growing season. 6-8 hours in the middle of summer is plenty for it to grow, flower, and be generally healthy.
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Dzitmoidonc
10 years ago
Some things to keep in mind: sunlight reaching the ground is not the same as the amount of sun on the top of the Redbud. Think of the taller trees as an umbrella. You can stand with your feet in the sun but your head in the shade.

Another concern is that as an understory tree, that can mean a lopsided form. If you are thinking of the Redbud as an evenly branched symmetrical tree, and any other form is 'ugly', then it may fail your test. The reason is that these trees (Redbuds) are very good at growing next to taller trees, but they become horizontal trees with long branches on the sunnier side and shorter, fewer branches on the shady side. Crecis have an odd branching pattern to begin with.

If you can live with a crooked tree, then by all means plant it where it is going to show off the cool spring color. I think the tree is nice even if it is one branch growing horizontally along the ground
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
sorry for the irrelevant content

ken

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 18:40
greenthumbzdude
10 years ago
yeah just be careful when picking triullium species...some like acidic soil and others like calcareous soil. Ferns are also considered herbaceous btw.
whaas_5a
10 years ago
Do you have MN or columbus strain?

Redbud isn't hardy to zone 4 otherwise.
agray132
10 years ago
I thought eastern redbud could thrive in full sun as a specimen or as an understory tree?
whaas_5a
10 years ago
That is correct. They look nicer in full sun in my area.

Not sure how much sun they can take further south.
j0nd03
10 years ago
They do just fine with full sun down here. They do well in either situation honestly although most trees here, including immature shade trees, do best with some form of afternoon shade. I even have a partly yellow foliage Rising Sun in full all day shade and looks fine in its second year in the ground.
Debbie Downer
Original Author
10 years ago
whaas - it's a Home Depot strain - Im not seeing any identification except Eastern Redbud. Not sure how I'd find out......? I guess with a name like Canadensis I assumed it would be hardy to colder zones.