Thank you!
In truth this is a perfect example of the wrong plant in the wrong place. I don't know if the original owners planted it there or if a bird did but if a bird did it, it should have been moved long ago while it was a sapling. You see, it's directly underneath the limbs of ancient oaks. The moss falls off the oaks onto the redbud beneath. We've been here 5 years & the redbud was too large to move by the time we bought the house. I expect we will lose the redbud as the moss overwhelms it more & more. We've talked about pulling the moss off the redbud but the ground there is pretty sloped and we would need to be on a ladder, a high ladder. Not an advisable thing to do under those conditions! Not to mention that it's something one would have to continue doing because the moss is going to continue dropping onto it from the oak limbs. It would be an exercise in futility.
Redbuds grow perfectly well in full sun here so I don't know why it was planted or left to grow there where it doesn't truly get the light it needs to do it's best.
Actually I am surprised the redbud has lasted this long. Every year I think this will be the year that kills it and then every spring the redbud blooms beautifully & leafs out and obscures most of the moss unless you are walking underneath the redbud to see how much moss is actually there.