Q.Red bud looks like bush
An animal damaged my Forest Pansy red bud tree by snapping off the main trunk of the tree. It appeared to permanently be damaged as the spring approached last year. The tree did not bloom and no leaves were appearing. I had put a plastic protector on the trunk over the winter to prevent another animal from damaging the trunk, and when I took it off later in the spring, all the buds and new leaves were underneath the plastic protector.
I took it off and the tree bloomed nicely and got great leaves, but it looked like a bush, not a tree. I’m not sure how to take care of it now, and I’m not sure if I will ever get it to look like a tree. Are there any suggestions you may have for me to get the multiple suckers off the bottom of the trunk and get it to grow up into a tree?
Here is a few links about Redbuds.
The Pansy cultivator seems to have the exact growing pattern as you have described. Leafing low on the trunk.
Redbud has a very thin bark and care must be taken to protect in the future.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st147
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/redbud/caring-for-redbud-trees.htm
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/nursery/ipm/book_files/chapter_12