Red flowering dogwood
 

My 2 yr old dogwood doesn't look well. It's leaves are somewhat
brittle and grayish looking. Anyone have an idea what might be wrong
and what I should do about it? Thanks

Em

"Emerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
My 2 yr old dogwood doesn't look well. It's leaves are somewhat
brittle and grayish looking. Anyone have an idea what might be wrong
and what I should do about it? Thanks

Em


1) Where do you live?

2) Is it in sun, shade, or a mix?

3) It it near surfaces which concentrate and/or radiate heat, like blacktop
driveway, concrete, or even the wall of a building?

4) What's your weather been like for the past month or so?

5) If you water, describe how (what device, how long, what time of day)

Emerald wrote:

My 2 yr old dogwood doesn't look well. It's leaves are somewhat
brittle and grayish looking. Anyone have an idea what might be wrong
and what I should do about it? Thanks

Em

I don't have a clue.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
Emerald wrote:

My 2 yr old dogwood doesn't look well. It's leaves are somewhat
brittle and grayish looking. Anyone have an idea what might be wrong
and what I should do about it? Thanks

Em

I don't have a clue.


Uh oh. The toilet's backed up again.

Sounds like anthracnose especially if your dogwood is a Cornus Florida
type. There's lots written in this group about it.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
(Zone 6a)

I live in No. Va.

The tree is in full sun and it is near he driveway-about 4 feet away
from asphalt.

I water at least every 3 days with hose on full at base of tree, no
overhead watering.

I'd say i give it about a gallon at each watering.

Thanks again,
Em

Huh?

Emerald wrote:

I live in No. Va.

The tree is in full sun and it is near he driveway-about 4 feet away
from asphalt.

I water at least every 3 days with hose on full at base of tree, no
overhead watering.

I'd say i give it about a gallon at each watering.

Thanks again,
Em

It's probably suffering from dog urine burn, shoot your neigbors dogs
and see if it improves.

Thanks, Alan, I'll start researching anthracnose.

Em

Emerald wrote:

Huh?

My punk son uses too much paper and clogs it up almost daily.

"Emerald" wrote in
oups.com:

My 2 yr old dogwood doesn't look well. It's leaves are somewhat
brittle and grayish looking. Anyone have an idea what might be wrong
and what I should do about it? Thanks

Em


It could be either powdery mildew (very common this time of year, with the
high humidity) or Discula (a type of anthracnose). The symptoms include
small, purple-rimmed leaf spots or large tan blotches that may enlarge and
kill the entire leaf.

--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
email:
http://beyondgardening.com/Albums

"Emerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in No. Va.

The tree is in full sun and it is near he driveway-about 4 feet away
from asphalt.

I water at least every 3 days with hose on full at base of tree, no
overhead watering.

I'd say i give it about a gallon at each watering.

Thanks again,
Em


Others have mentioned diseases, and they're probably correct. However, like
plants (and people), diseases do more damage when the patient is already
stressed. Your tree (like the one at my previous house) was planted in the
wrong place, at least according to a parks dep't tree guy I spoke to years
ago about mine. He said they'd given up planting them anywhere near blacktop
or cement many years earlier, due to the increased heat levels.

The best thing you can do for it is to water it well during long dry spells,
and you're not doing that. One gallon to a tree like that is like giving you
a teaspoon of water when you're thirsty. Put your sprinkler under the tree,
water on low pressure, so it wets the ground and not the tree. Or, get a
soaker hose. Imagine a circle at least as wide as the diameter of the top of
the tree. Move the sprinkler around so that whole area is soaked. If this
takes less than 2 hours, you haven't given it enough.

"Emerald" wrote in message
oups.com...
Huh?


There is a person here using my name to post messages. He has problems with
some of the views I express here and in a few other newsgroups, so he pops
up every now and then and acts like an infant. Look at the header on his
messages and it should be easy to figure out who's who.

I don't think powdery mildew would cause the leaves to be brittle as
the OP stated. It's more of a cosmetic thing.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a

Thany you for your replies.

I don't think it's anthracnose because the leaves
do not have spots or holes.
They are just very brittle, and the newer leaves
crumble when pinched.

I will follow Doug's advice and water longer and more
deeply and see how it does. If it's no better next year
I'll try to transplant it.

Thanks again,
Em