Pruning Dogwood
 

Could someone please advise me of the best method for pruning dogwood. I
have followed the instructions in a gardening book and for the past 2 years
have pruned it back, in March, to about 4 inches from the ground. The
problem I have is that the new growth is very lax and needs to be tied up to
keep it reasonably tidy. I am sure that I have seen nice, bright red dogwood
with erect, stiff stems. How can I achieve this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Les

les wrote:
Could someone please advise me of the best method for pruning
dogwood. I have followed the instructions in a gardening book and
for
the past 2 years have pruned it back, in March, to about 4 inches
from the ground. The problem I have is that the new growth is very
lax and needs to be tied up to keep it reasonably tidy. I am sure
that I have seen nice, bright red dogwood with erect, stiff stems.
How can I achieve this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Interesting problem, which I've never met before. I wonder if for
some reason the plants aren't getting enough to eat and drink, and so
can't produce the usual strong shoots. Is your soil particularly poor
or well-drained? Or are they getting a lot of shade? (I don't know
what shade would do to them: I'm just casting about.)

If the soil _is_ poor or dry, then the best answer is a good mulch
every year, such as you'd give a philadelphus after pruning. A good
helping of bonemeal at planting time would have been good, but you
can prick it into the surface, as the rather shallow roots are
usually very robust.

--
Mike.

les wrote:

Could someone please advise me of the best method for pruning dogwood. I
have followed the instructions in a gardening book and for the past 2 years
have pruned it back, in March, to about 4 inches from the ground. The
problem I have is that the new growth is very lax and needs to be tied up to
keep it reasonably tidy. I am sure that I have seen nice, bright red dogwood
with erect, stiff stems. How can I achieve this?

I favour pruning about one third to half of all stems out each year
leaving the most colourful and avoiding crossing branches. On poor soils
it is too brutal to take them down to ground level every year and you
get weedy fragile watery stems that break in a strong wind.

Just cut out the parts that have lost their stem colour.

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I favour pruning about one third to half of all stems out each year
leaving the most colourful and avoiding crossing branches. On poor soils
it is too brutal to take them down to ground level every year and you get
weedy fragile watery stems that break in a strong wind.

Just cut out the parts that have lost their stem colour.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Good post. One of my rules of thumb when working with this kind of dogwood,
or anything else which needs regular heavy cutting in order to achieve a
certain result, is to cut "one in three" stems out. This is one of several
other rules of thirds which keep popping up with us who prune for a living.
As with most rules, it can be bent quite a bit. But in this case, as you
say, only remove the parts which have lost the desired stem colour. Cutting
all of them at one go is quite harsh.

"Scott L. Hadley" wrote in message
...

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

I favour pruning about one third to half of all stems out each year
leaving the most colourful and avoiding crossing branches. On poor soils
it is too brutal to take them down to ground level every year and you get
weedy fragile watery stems that break in a strong wind.

Just cut out the parts that have lost their stem colour.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Good post. One of my rules of thumb when working with this kind of
dogwood, or anything else which needs regular heavy cutting in order to
achieve a certain result, is to cut "one in three" stems out. This is
one of several other rules of thirds which keep popping up with us who
prune for a living. As with most rules, it can be bent quite a bit. But in
this case, as you say, only remove the parts which have lost the desired
stem colour. Cutting all of them at one go is quite harsh.


Many thanks for this and other replies to my query.

They are most helpful.

Les

Can I ask when is the best time to prune them?

Ed

"gasdoctor" wrote in message
...
Can I ask when is the best time to prune them?

Ed
gasdoctor

My apology for leaving this rather important bit out. Since this is a form
of renewal pruning, it's also a dormant season pruning; whatever time that
may be in your area. It does seem to differ some, and that's where I hate to
try to speak for any place in the UK.

Christmas thru early April for me, but most commonly in March. I like my
woody plants to be really asleep during major surgery such as this---