Judas Tree
Cercis siliquastrum
A warm wall at its back suits it best, and summer is the only safe season to put a blade to it.
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 16 ft 5 in
- In-row spacing
- 16 ft 5 in
- Between rows
- 20 ft 6 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
Growing
- Type
- Tree · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun, and best of all with a south-facing wall behind it.
- Watering
- Regular water until it is settled, after which it looks after itself in dry weather.
- Feeding
- Compost mulch while young; nothing once it is established.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- April
- Pruning
- Prune in summer once flowering is over, and at no other time.
- Overwintering
- Hardy in mild gardens; shelter young trees where winters bite.
Through the year
- Apr–May Flowering
- May–Jun Bud Break
- Jun–Oct Growing
- Oct–Dec Leaf Fall
- Jan–Apr Leaf Fall
Pests & problems
Garden allies
Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant
- Hoverfly SyrphidaeHunts Scale insects
Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.
- Ladybird (lady beetle) CoccinellidaeHunts Scale insects
The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com