Varigated Dogwood trees not surviving

I live in NE Ohio and our Varigated Flowering Dogwood trees are dying. We trimmed them from growing into the ground and wild.. could that have been what is killing them. Don't see any insects on them. They just seem to be dying slowly. Well drained soil... gets plenty of water. Any clues?

This message was edited Aug 28, 2007 8:56 AM

Trimming them shouldn't kill them. Can you post a picture and give us a little more info about things like how long the trees have been there, are they in sun/shade, have you had a ton of rain recently (I know some parts of OH have had severe flooding recently, so if you're near one of those areas it could be too much water causing problems).

I have a mature dogwood in my front yard and it just hadn't been doing well since I moved in 4 years ago. Most of the leaves were only at its tip; there were no new shoots at its base, etc. It's in a good spot for a dogwood and we [generally] have pretty temperate weather here, so I didn't think that was the problem.

I was beginning to believe that maybe it had just outlived its general life span. I checked at a couple of nurseries, but nobody there had any suggestions as to what might be bothering it. Then somewhere I read that dogwoods don't like to have their roots disturbed. The bed that the dogwood sat in was sloped downward, so I added a couple of inches of topsoil and rocks around the base to level it out, making sure, of course, not to increase the actual soil level at the base of the tree.

It's doing much better. The next step is to apply 'messenger' to it, though I'm not sure it's indicated for trees, but it can't hurt. http://www.gardeningthings.com/sm/cimpublic/retrieve.cgi?dbname=gt&catalog_id=1.11.27.

Maybe something like this?

Kathy
Woodinville, WA

You can use Messenger on pretty much anything, I'm not sure if it'll have as noticeable effect on trees as it does on smaller plants, but it won't hurt anything.

What is the 'Messenger' you are talking about? I assumed it was a fertilizer but I wasn't sure.

It's a plant hormone that's supposed to boost the plant's immune system, it makes it grow bigger/more flowers and more resistant to pests. It's not a fertilizer, if you use it you still need to fertilize also.

Dylancgc -

There's more info here about messenger. Check out the link I posted, above.

Kathy

the varigated dogwoods i've seen, most never really lookes happy. could be allot of things.
allot of the trees sold in nurseries don't have enough developed roots to transplant happily. i'm just down the street from your location, near rt 6, rt90 etc. i have 5 kousa dogwoods on my poperty; some have been relocated several times in only 3 or 4 years. they don't seem to care too much, but without enough sun, they seem to bloom less, but stress less too.
the florida types, like your varigated -- maybe it's called "wolf eye???"-- is a florida type. we have native florida types growing wild in my area. the floridas i have planted have suffered in only half sun. they did not transplant as happily. they got powdery mildew and frog eye fungus. die back, bark beetles or some other type of borer etc, etc, etc.
i've never seen a happy wolf eye.

if yours is a varigated red twig --- give it more shade. they seem adaptable.

i bet it's the florida type.... too late tonight to recall any more scientific jargon...

Cornus florida have been dying out in my area for several years. A grower friend thinks it will go extinct. Anthracnose is being blamed for their demise. I worry about the imports they're always bring over from other countries--are they introducing diseases our native dogwoods and other plants have no resistance to? American Chestnut, American Elm.

I used to see forests of dogwood in springtime. All gone.

Messenger should not be applied at this time of year. And yes it is wonderful on trees. I have sprayed my dogwood and it bloomed twice as well as it did in previous years this year. I started spraying after it bloomed last year and I continued with messenger on everything until July, then I stop. Plants need to go dormant. And if you continue to spray in the fall then it will be a risk of it not going dormant in time for frost/snow here in the north.

I used messenger on a purple beech and it made the leaves revert to green, so beware that it may make a plant revert. I am told if I do not spray it next season it should return to purple/red.

Thanks for the information, dovebydesign!!

Kathy

when is the best time to transplant iris's and do they prefer full sun/shade?

This message was edited Sep 9, 2007 7:04 PM

spider flower... has anyone tried planting from seed? suggestions on how to, when

You might have better luck if you go ask that question on the iris forum--you'll find lots of iris experts over there.

And for the spider flower, I'm not sure what that is, depending on what it is, you could try the Perennials forum, or bulbs, or tropicals.

thank you I will have to find that forum

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