Flowering Dogwood

Size, growth and what to expect

Flowering dogwood does its growing early. Height growth is fairly rapid for the first 20 to 30 years and then almost stops. Our growth estimator models the whole run at about a foot a year, the figure it uses for a slow grower. In a yard expect 15 to 30 feet. On a good forest site it makes 30 to 40 feet with a trunk 8 to 16 inches through, and the tallest on record stood 55 feet.

A tree grown from seed commonly flowers and fruits at 6 years old, with a good seed crop every other year. The white bracts are about 2 inches long, and the red berries that follow are half an inch long and a quarter inch through. At least 36 kinds of birds eat them, along with deer, bears, squirrels, foxes and skunks. A tree may live 125 years, and the oldest known has been ring-counted to 180.

It grows wild from southwestern Maine west to New York, southern Ontario, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri, and south to east Texas and north Florida.

How to grow Flowering Dogwood

Dogwood is an understory tree, so the best spot has high shade and morning sun, with afternoon shelter at the warm end of its range. Full sun works where summers stay cool and the soil holds moisture. Give it average, well-drained ground on the acid side. The spread matches the height, so keep the trunk 15 feet from the house. Set trees 15 feet apart.

Plant in the dormant season, favoring early spring over fall in cold zones. Saplings come bare-root or in containers with fine, shallow roots. Dig a broad, shallow hole, plant a little high where drainage is doubtful, leave the root flare showing, and reuse the soil. Spread mulch thin and wide over the roots, never against the bark. A stake is seldom wanted. Clean the stones from the red fruit and sow them outdoors in early fall, half an inch deep under mulch. Stones held for spring need about four months of cold, damp storage first.

Water whenever the top inch dries through the first two summers, since shallow roots dry fast. Deer rub small trunks and browse the tips, so cage the tree for three winters. Keep string trimmers away, since every bark wound invites dogwood borer.

Flowering dogwood rejects its own pollen and a lone tree's fruits often hold empty stones, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents. Flowering dogwood's known trouble is anthracnose, worst in cool, still, damp shade. Air movement and morning sun that dries the leaves do more than any spray. Fall color comes early, often the first red in the woods.