Hi Eileen, 

Did you apply any herbicide treatments to your lawn? Some of these leaves do look a little stressed. The brown spots look normal for Redbuds and not overly concerning. It could be a bacterial or fungal leaf spot that occurred with the rainy spring weather we had. We won't be able to pinpoint the spots but they are most likely harmless. Many deciduous trees get various spots on the leaves. Some leaves fall off but it you just monitor for health and make sure you are caring for newly planted trees, they can typically recover. 

Make sure you are watering in times of drought still as it takes trees about 3 years to get established. You can feel the soil first and water as needed. Refer to our Watering Trees and shrubs guide.  Make sure the trunk isn't buried too deeply as well, either planted too deep or with mulch. Check out our blog post about root flare.

If you notice other alarming symptoms feel free to send in additional photos. 

Emily

Hello Eileen,

Trees, shrubs, and perennials (excepting those grown for fruit) do not need routine fertilizer unless a soil is deficient in certain nutrients, which can only be determined by a laboratory soil test. Otherwise, nutrients added to a planting bed that is not deficient won't necessarily be of use to the plant, since it already has what it needs (and can only use them up so quickly), and the excess risks polluting stormwater runoff (or at least being wasted).

Redbuds do not need supplemental fertilizer unless they become chlorotic (a type of nutrient depravation). Chlorosis often arises from either a too-high pH level (soil not acidic enough) or a lack of enough iron, manganese, or magnesium. Since Redbuds grow naturally in soils that are not very acidic, the pH issue is not very likely in this case. We don't see indications of chlorosis or any other type of nutrient deficiency, but the non-solid background color of the foliage, where it looks finely misted with a paler color, does suggest what we thought was mild herbicide damage or some other source of stress (it's hard to tell, since it's subtle). Additionally, in general, plants that are stressed (when that stress is not due to a nutrient deficiency) should not be fertilized, since it runs the risk of making the condition worse.

Miri