Beginner success with Redbud — here is what helped

As a complete beginner I was nervous about starting with Redbud. It turned out to be more forgiving than I expected, as long as I paid attention to staking correctly with a low stake to allow the trunk to flex and strengthen.

I grow mine in a wildlife garden with native species which is working really well. multi-decade investment that improves year on year was a genuine surprise — I didn't expect it to look or perform like that. bare winter silhouette revealing branch structure and bark has been the highlight so far. My biggest mistake early on was ignoring verticillium wilt causing branch dieback on susceptible species, which I'd recommend addressing immediately.