dogwood

Buy Dogwood – Specialities

The dogwood wood is especially hard and tough, and the strong branches were used in the past to make door bolts. Jam and liqueur were traditionally made from the fruits of the red dogwood and the cornelian cherry. In a cooked form, the fruits also represent a wonderful cranberry substitute. Cornelian cherries are best harvested by shaking, with the harvest period extending over several weeks.

Location

Most dogwoods prefer locations with slightly acidic to neutral soil and a good water supply. But there are also lime-tolerant types – so you should pay special attention to the variety or species description. A special feature regarding the soil is, for example, the red dogwood, which loves a moist soil. Waterlogging should be avoided for all dogwoods. These woody plants prefer a sunny to partially shaded site, although some species thrive quite well in the shade. If in doubt, you should plant your dogwood in semi-shade, since all variants show good development when partially shaded. Bear in mind that dogwoods can also grow considerably in width, so plan accordingly when planting.

Planting and Nurturing Dogwood

Since many species can reach heights of up to 8 metres, dogwoods should be given a lot of space, even in width. In a hedge planting, a distance of one metre is recommended. Applying a layer of compost in the spring or autumn is advantageous. Moisture-loving dogwood plants usually need more fertiliser than other dogwoods.

Pruning Dogwood

When pruning dogwoods one should regard the following:

For the cornelian cherry and the common dogwood, only an occasional shaping cut should be needed. In order to develop many lateral shoots, you can cut back the young shrubs in the spring by half to two thirds. In later years, only a maintenance cut is needed for the large shrubs.

Species and varieties of the Siberian dogwood (Cornus alba) show particularly intense bark colours only in the young shoots. This should be cut back in early spring (until early March) vigorously – however this is at the expense of the flowers. Older shoots can be cut close to the ground. Even a radical cutback, in which all shoots are cut to a stub, is possible after two or three years. However, if the flower decoration is more important to you, an occasional thinning of the bushes is sufficient.

A training cut determines the growth habit of a dogwood: if a tree-like growth is to be achieved, leave only one main shoot of the young plant. From this, a crown can form in the next few years and then the main shoot can be cut back by one third. Ground-level shoots should be removed regularly in this case.

Dogwood - Planting Partners

Combine the different bark colours to see a true work of art in the winter: the Siberian dogwood has red bark – this can be combined with the variety Cornus alba 'Ivory Halo' (black-red bark) and a Yellow-stemmed dogwood, e.g. the variety Cornus stolonifera 'Buds Yellow'.

Dogwoods work very well planted with evergreen shrubs – such as yew or cherry laurel. The luminosity of the shoots is thus intensified.

Dogwood Toxicity

If you buy a dogwood, you should take a closer look: some dogwood (cornelian) fruits are fine for humans, but for safety's sake should only be consumed when cooked. However, some dogwood fruits are considered inedible per se – they can cause stomach problems and diarrhoea, so children should be discouraged from eating them.

Also the leaves, the bark and the roots of the dogwood are slightly poisonous. As a precaution you should wear gloves when planting and cutting. Do not feed the leaves of dogwood plants to domestic and farm animals.