Pruning Red/Yellow Twig Dogwood
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ranjanir
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Aug-24-2004 at 9:59am
Is there a good/bad time to prune red/yellow twig dogwood. I missed pruning them in spring (when I took care of all my ornamental grasses and the like). Now, my red twig dogwood is over 6 feet tall and all over the place. Would cutting it now send it into shock. When is my next opportunity?
Thanks.
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Aug-24-2004 at 11:02am
I think you'll be okay, Ranjanir. These are fairly tough plants. I've seen them hard-pruned at all times of the year by landscape crews in commercial settings and they did just fine. I've cut mine in the summer to control their growth, either because I missed my late winter window or because the plants grew too large, without any problems. Go ahead and give them a light haircut; don't cut back as hard as you would in late winter/early spring.
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Aug-25-2004 at 3:28pm
Red twig dogwood is a great plant. The key, I think, is to cut off the oldest growth--that is turning brown--in early spring. It still will produce new shoots, but it will give new growth room to grow and keep the twigs truely red. Late winter/early spring is the best for heavy pruning but shaping can be done now if you cant wait until spring. We planted our 200 ft. hedge along the road with starts from a single bush, over a 5 year period. You can speed things up by burying a limb to root. The great thing is that it is always interesting to look at in all seasons.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton