Pruning dogwoods

[Bluejane]

I planted a loose 'hedge' of red-stemmed dogwoods over the winter and stupidly forgot all about cutting them back while they were dormant. They're now starting to come into leaf - is it too late to prune them now? Or should I leave them be until next year? I don't want them to get too leggy, but I'm a bit nervous about cutting them back when they've only just started to get settled. Any advice very welcome.

[Bluejane]

[ipt8]

I think they will be OK if you do it as soon as you can. They will just take a little while to get going again. Strictly speaking one would say no but it is a tough shrub.

[beejay]

I would cut back 1/3 to 1/2 & do the same each year so you have a gradual renewal.

[laurieuk]

With this being a late season, I am speaking as some one in the South, you will not do any harm and they really need pruning very hard each March so as to keep the new wood in a good colour.If you allow the old wood to stay you will lose the value of the colour.

[onionhead]

And if you fancy, your dogwood prunings can easily be turned into hardwood cuttings: cut below a bud at the bottom and pop each stem back into a spare patch of soil. By this time next year they should be ready to go, so dig them out and move into their final planting position.

[Larkspur]

The cuttings also make super pea sticks (or general plant supports) if you don't need them as new cornus plants. :)

[Bluejane]

Thank you, everyone, for all that good advice. I've a day off today so I'll be heading out into the rain and wind wielding my trusty secateurs!

[ipt8]

What rain is that? Its a wonderful spring day down here in Surrey as have been the last few days. Mind you we have had frosts. I have the polytunnel door vents open(in effect door frame with netting over it) as the temperature inside was 38 degrees 8)

[Bluejane]

Grrr! Feeling very jealous now. Here in the West of Ireland the last month has been 2-3 frosty days alternating with 4-5 days pouring rain. We had a pretty dry winter but spring has more than made up for it. It's only now started to get windy as well. I don't mind the rain as a rule, but it's when it starts falling horizontally I'm not so keen. Oh well, at least we have a nice view - mountain, gorse, rushes and wet sheep ....

[Jill]

Planted my first one this time last year which didn't seem to grow much height-wise (it's now about 2'6"/3').  It's had nice red bare stems through winter and leaves are just about to start to grow.  So at what age/height do you start pruning and how severely?

[caroline7758]

Does anyone know anything about Cornus kousa chinensis? I planted 3 of these a couple of years ago & I know they don't have the coloured stems of other dogwoods, but can I still prune them hard back?

[Garden Manager]

Does anyone know anything about Cornus kousa chinensis? I planted 3 of these a couple of years ago & I know they don't have the coloured stems of other dogwoods, but can I still prune them hard back?

I would say no to that. That variety is grown for its flowers (late spring?), which grow from old wood so hard pruning would remove the flowering wood. Also i dont think the flowering types respond that well to hard pruining if for any reason it was needed. I'd say if it needs pruning wait until its flowered and then only take out the oldest /flowered wood to rejuvinate the plant.

Hope this helps

[caroline7758]

Thanks. Having done some googling, I'm not convinced they were labelled correctly- didn't notice any flowers last year. I'll leave them for this year then dig them out if they don't do much.

[Garden Manager]

Thanks. Having done some googling, I'm not convinced they were labelled correctly- didn't notice any flowers last year. I'll leave them for this year then dig them out if they don't do much.

Why dont you post a photo of them and get us to try and ID them for you?