Dogwood care – planting, cutting and propagating

The name dogwood comes from the particularly hard wood of the plants. Walking sticks were often made from this. One differentiates:

• Cornelian cherries – red fruits, yellow petals, inflorescences without noticeable bracts
• American dogwoods – red fruits, flower heads with showy bracts
• Asian dogwoods – all fruits of a flower head are fused, showy bracts.
• Perennial dogwood – red fruits, showy bracts
• Dogwood – open umbels, fruits white or dark blue
• Pagoda dogwood – open umbels, dark blue fruits

Caution!
Dogwoods are not really toxic to humans, but if children put parts of plants in their mouths, it can lead to diarrhea. The plant can be life-threatening for guinea pigs or hamsters!

For birds like thrush. Black redstart, grosbeak, robin, starling and some more, however, the berries are a delicacy and not at all harmful. Deer and caterpillars also like them.

Care of dogwood

The dogwood is easy to care for. If it has the right location and a suitable substrate, it does not make much effort. You have to know that some species can get quite large. So you have to plan enough space or you have to cut back regularly so that the dogwood does not thrive too abundantly. If space is available and growth is desired, the wood can simply be let grow. Then you have the least amount of work. However, the leaves or the colored branches and twigs lose their color intensity with increasing age. A cut protects against this.

location

In terms of location, the dogwood is very frugal. He doesn’t make great demands.

• A sunny to partially shaded location is preferred.
• Some varieties also get along well in quite shady places, for example the red dogwood.

Plant substrate

Only a few requirements are placed on the plant substrate. It just can’t be too damp or wet!

• A dry and well-drained soil is ideal.
• If the substrate is moist, installing a drainage system will help.
• Constantly damp roots rot.
• However, some varieties do not like such dry soil at all. They like clay or loam soils that can hold some water. Some dogwoods also thrive near water, i.e. near the natural garden pond.
• The varieties that need more moisture love adding compost and a mulch blanket.
• A somewhat acidic soil is favorable for many species. The best thing to do is to ask again when you buy or to do some research on the Internet!

plant

There is not much to consider when planting. You should know that dogwoods usually need a few years before they bloom for the first time. So when you buy a small shrub, you sometimes have to wait a long time. Some don’t bloom until they’re at least two meters tall. It’s often worth investing in and buying a larger, older copy.

• It is best to plant in spring or autumn.
• Put the plant balls in water until no more air bubbles rise!
• Plant spacing – half of the expected height.
• Leave a distance of at least one meter when planting hedges!
• Dogwood shoots numerous root runners and is therefore well suited for soil compaction and as embankment planting.

Watering and fertilizing

Most dogwoods don’t need a lot of water. Only in the first two to three years after planting should the soil under no circumstances dry out. Otherwise there are frugal plants that take care of themselves.

• Watering is only required after planting until the dogwood has grown.
• Fertilizing is not necessary.
• If you still want to fertilize, you can use long-term fertilizers. A dose at the beginning of the growth phase is sufficient.
• Some varieties like slightly moist soil. They prefer to stand in loamy soil, which keeps the moisture better and are happy if they get some water every now and then when it is dry.
• If possible, do not pour on the leaves, as this promotes fungal diseases and their spread.
• It is beneficial to spread some compost in autumn. This ensures ideal growth conditions and fertilizer is also superfluous.

To cut

When it comes to pruning, not all dogwoods can be treated equally. There are similarities and differences. Many dogwoods are cut in March, but not all. For most dogwoods, a hard cut won’t do any harm. You recover quickly. The important thing is to cut over the first branches. The more branches that are left, the denser and bushier the dogwood will be.

When rejuvenating, you go slowly. First, cut about 1/3 of the old twigs that grow out of the ground as deep as possible. It is important not only to cut around the outside, but above all from the inner part of the shrub. The cut will be repeated in the coming year. Now, however, you have to be careful not to cut off young shoots. Always remove old shoots. After the cut in the 3rd year there are only young shoots left. The wood is rejuvenated.

It is important never to cut in frost. Otherwise, many dogwoods can be cut all year round.

• Red dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) – can always be cut except in frosty weather. However, the best time is in March. Shrub can be rejuvenated well.
• White dogwood (Cornus alba) – here too, it is best to cut in March.
• Cornus controversa – should be cut as little as possible! If species with variegated leaves suddenly develop green leaves, cut them all away at once!
• Cornus florida – topiary in winter! It is best to only thin out and only branches that grow inward! Cut away dead wood, right into the healthy one!
• Yellow dogwood (Cornus mas) – tolerates pruning very well, which is why it is also suitable as a hedge plant. Hedge trimming in April / May! Topiary or rejuvenation in May!
• Japanese dogwood (Cornus kousa) – cutting out dead wood after winter. Cut into healthy wood! Topiary after flowering, around the end of June! Above all, cut out branches that grow inward! If green leaves form in variegated species, cut them off immediately!

Overwinter

Most dogwoods are sufficiently hardy. You can easily cope with temperatures down to – 20 ° C. It doesn’t really get much colder here. However, there are also varieties that are out of the ordinary. Before deciding to buy, you should inquire carefully.

Multiply

Most dogwoods are fairly easy to propagate. You sow seeds or use cuttings. Both work pretty well. However, you have to be patient. In the first few years the dogwood grows only minimally and hardly any new shoots form. As always, exceptions confirm the rule. It takes about 5 years for it to bloom.

• Cuttings – cut shoots 15 cm long in spring. Remove the leaves at the lower end and stick the shoot directly into potting soil. Keep the soil evenly moist!
• In spring you can also cut off already rooted shoots around the dogwood and plant them again where you want. That works fine.
• Division of the shrub is also possible in most cases.
• Birds often spread the dogwood throughout the garden and also in the neighborhood.

Diseases and pests

Leaf tan is the dogwood’s most feared disease. Otherwise powdery mildew will occur. When it comes to pests, it is mainly mealybugs that attack the dogwood.

• Leaf tan – caused by the discula destructiva fungus. Infestation begins with brown leaf spots. The necroses usually begin at the tips of the leaves and continue along the veins to the base. The pathogen also spreads to twigs and branches. The entire plant dies. The North American varieties such as Cornus florida and Cornus nuttalli are particularly susceptible to this disease.
• Powdery mildew – shows up as white-gray spots on and under the leaves. Floury toppings form later. The fungus occurs particularly frequently in warm, dry weather phases. This can be remedied by removing infected leaves and shoots. In addition, fertilizing should definitely be stopped. Injecting a lecithin mix has proven to be helpful. You can get that in gardening shops.
• Mealybugs – recognized by colonies of woolly miniature animals and sticky honeydew (excretions from these) on the leaves. The tips of the shoots die off and the leaves begin to turn yellow. The shields can be scrubbed away with a toothbrush, which of course is not possible with a large dogwood. You never get them all and they keep spreading. It is better to spray the lice colonies with rapeseed oil, the animals will suffocate under it. Ichneumon wasps and earwigs have proven to be biological weapons. These are particularly popular with organic gardeners.

Particularly beautiful varieties

There are some dogwood species that are very suitable for free-growing hedges. The best known is the American dogwood (Cornus florida). In autumn the leaves turn splendidly scarlet to purple and look like a lush sea of ​​colors. The flowers that appear in May are inconspicuous, greenish white to yellowish. The decorative effect is based on four white bracts that surround the small flowers. Particularly beautiful varieties are ‘Cloud Nine’, which has particularly large bracts, or the red form ‘Rubra’, which has light to dark pink bracts. Probably the best red variety is ‘Cherokee Chief’, which however only has a short flowering time (max. 2 weeks)

• Japanese dogwood – small greenish-yellow flower heads, but massive and surrounded by four white, elongated-elliptical bracts. Particularly beautiful variety ‘Satomi’, with large, pink-red bracts.
• Chinese dogwood – the bracts turn pink as they fade. The raspberry-like red fruits, which are lined up in large numbers along the branches in October, are also great. Beautiful variety ‘Wieting Select’ with white flowers that turn reddish streaked at the end of the flowering period.
• My favorite is Cornus kousa ‘Venus’ – a cross between Chinese and Pacific dogwoods. The plant impresses with its particularly good health, huge bracts, a long flowering period, great autumn colors and particularly resistant to the dreaded leaf tan (fungal disease for which there are no remedies).

Conclusion
Dogwood can be found in many gardens. It doesn’t really have to be a big tree. Small bushes or even ground covers look decorative too. Even branches catch the eye with their special colors. Every dogwood is special in its own way. When choosing, you have to pay attention to how much space you have and how much work you want to do. The site conditions of the individual varieties must also be taken into account. In recent years there have been some cases of leaf tan, a fungal disease introduced from the home country (USA). So it is important to make sure you have a healthy plant when you buy it. The disease, of course, is best seen by who’s got leaves on it. Otherwise, dogwood causes few problems. Once they have grown, they usually take care of themselves.