This is the first year planting these dogwood shrubs. I wanted to add some colour for winter and had seen (second picture) the display at Harlow Carr in Harrogate.
I have 3 just to start out, and I have read that I shouldn't prune them at all until the second year, then the following early spring/late winter heavy prune to gain the red stems for the winter.
Has anyone had experience with these? I wanted to double check if the advice and research I've done is correct and I'm leaving them untouched until spring 2027, having planted them earlier this year.
by YorkieLon
8 Comments
Yes,let them Establish for say,2 seasons.Then assuming they’re growing well-going forward they can be taken down fairly heavily prior to leaf emergence/start of March.Even then,I find they do better being hard pruned rather than every Spring.
Terribly easy to propagate.
Sounds good. Got some and just prune bigger stems down to the ground every second or third year to promote fresh new shoots to keep the winter stem display good. Would agree with letting them settle in before any pruning but have found propagation from cuttings is easy enough if you want to multiply your number of plants.
Happy gardening!
I believe the research you have done is correct. I have ‘midwinter fire’, which I planted a little over a year ago and I have done a couple of minor trims since then and I plan to do the hard prune before the new growth starts in spring…
Coppice Cornus for colourful stems every third year in late winter. If you’re just planting, leave it this year.
Great advice here, but just to add a couple of things from my experience. Once plants are established (three or four years), don’t be afraid to cut hard back and even dig out areas that are too rampant. I find that the straightforward sibirica is a bit too rampant. The variegated form and midwinter fire are better behaved. (I’m not far from Harlow Carr) Propagation (if you need to) is really easy by hardwood cuttings – pencil thickness, a bud at either end and one in the middle – and then stuck in the ground and left – about this time of year, but even works when you cut coloured stems back in the spring.
I absolutely love these, I’ve already got 4 with plan for more.
I’ve nothing more to add as everyone else has covered it. Leave it and don’t stress for a year or so.
As said by trailoftears 123 . Let it grow for 2 or 3 seasons then in march cutdown to 6 buds up from bottom of plant. This is to increase the amont of shoots . As cornus (dogwood) is grown for its winter colour.
There’s loads of these all around Milton Keynes, they look glorious!