Green Is No Good: Prune Your Ruby Falls Redbud

Q: This is the second season my Ruby Falls redbud tree has been in my yard, and it seems to be doing fine. I noticed it had several new green (not purple) offshoots coming up this spring after it had blossomed. Should I prune them off or will they eventually start to “weep” like the main tree?

A: Ruby Falls redbud resulted from a cross between Cercis canadensis “Covey,” which is a weeping redbud variety, and “Forest Pansy,” which has purple foliage. It is such a great looking plant that the breeders knew there would be big demand. The fastest way to reproduce a large number of identical woody plants is to graft a twig from the mother plant onto a rooted twig of a less desirable plant. That’s how your tree was produced. A healthy twig of Ruby Falls was grafted to a generic green-leafed redbud.

Now the green redbud below the graft is sprouting and the new limbs have decided to head for the sky. If allowed to grow, these sprouts will shade out your pretty tree. They must be removed at once. Duck under the limbs of your Ruby Falls, find where the green-leafed sprouts originate, and cut them as close to the trunk as you can. Do the same with any that come in future years.