Redbuds and Forest Pansy

How to choose a redbud

Forest Pansy is the one most people want: a small tree to about 5m with deep purple heart shaped leaves from spring, pink flowers on the bare wood in early spring and yellow to orange autumn colour. Merlot is a newer selection with smaller, glossier purple leaves on a more compact tree to about 3.5m, bred for hotter, drier conditions and the better choice north of Sydney. Chinese Redbud is the green leafed species, smothered in rosy pink flowers in spring on a multi stemmed tree to 3.5m, and Faerie Queen is a selected form of it.

The trade-off is foliage against flowers: the purple leafed forms are grown for the leaf, the Chinese redbud for the heaviest flowering.

Where redbuds work

Redbuds grow in cool and warm temperate gardens: Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Sydney and the ranges and tablelands. They are frost hardy and need a cool winter to flower well. Give them free draining soil, morning sun and some shelter from hot afternoon sun and wind, which scorch the leaves of Forest Pansy in a heatwave; Merlot copes better. Use a redbud as a feature in a lawn, a courtyard tree, a tree for a front garden under power lines, or the canopy over a shaded seat. They are among the best small trees for urban gardens and sit with the other deciduous trees in the autumn colour range.

Planting and spacing

Give a redbud 4m of clear space and plant it at least 3m from buildings. Dig a hole twice the width of the pot, improve the soil with compost, plant level with the soil, stake for the first year, water in deeply and mulch to 75mm, kept off the trunk. Plant in autumn or early spring; a tree planted in late spring needs careful watering through its first summer.

Care basics

Water deeply once or twice a week through the first two summers and in dry spells after that; a stressed redbud drops leaves early. Feed in spring with a slow release fertiliser. Pruning is minimal: remove crossing branches and any dead wood after flowering, and never cut hard, since redbuds do not reshoot well from old wood. Wet feet are the main cause of failure, so plant on a mound in heavy clay. Pests are rare. For the choice between a deciduous and an evergreen feature tree read evergreen versus deciduous trees in Australia.

Common questions

How big does a Forest Pansy grow?

About 5m tall and 4m wide in Australian gardens, and it can be kept smaller with light pruning after flowering.

Will a redbud grow in Brisbane?

The purple leafed forms struggle in the humid subtropics and flower poorly without a cool winter. Merlot is the best bet in warmer districts; south of Sydney all of them do well.

When does a redbud flower?

Early spring, August to September, on the bare branches before the leaves open.

Why are the leaves on my Forest Pansy burnt at the edges?

Hot afternoon sun or hot wind. Plant it where it gets afternoon shade, water deeply in heatwaves and the new leaves come through clean.