Trunk Chopped Escallonia

Hi all,
I have a large escallonia (4-5 inch base) that was a rescue from a couple years ago. I cut it down to about 3 feet last year. I have foliage low on the tree but nothing higher that 6-8 inches. I scraped the bark about 2 feet above the soil and the tree is alive at that point. Are there any tricks to help get buds higher on the tree? Should I remove the lower sucker branches?
Any help would be appreciated.
Tona