Questions about planting new dogwoods - HELP!

10 years ago

Hi, I'm a new poster, (I sure hope I'm doing this right!). My weeping willow died last spring and we had the stump ground to pieces. Now we are left with a nice opening in our yard. My wish is to buy 2 variegated dogwood trees - one with white blooms, the other with pink or red blooms - and buy them young/small and at the same time so I can plant them together, in the same hole, which will be several feet from where the willow was. After planting, I plan to wrap/twist the stems together, tying them to a stake to keep them upright and straight, thus allowing the 2 trees to grow into what would look like one tree, with a twisted trunk, but I may not do this, it's just a thought. I've had a lot of trouble choosing the right trees. I really like "Akatsuki", which has pink blooms and white variegation. It only gets about 10 feet in height - which, after enough time, probably would grow to a more likely 15 to 20 feet. That's the size range that I want. But now I'm stuck and can't decide which white flowered D.W. to choose now. I realize too, that it would need to be pretty much the same full grown size/hardiness/etc. Has anyone had experience with variegated dogwoods - growing, ordering, problems with pests/diseases/etc? Or any advice on where to look online? The place where I will plant them is full sun until noon or shortly thereafter and I have pretty good soil, some clay though, and I will amend the soil when I plant them. Any advice or suggestions will be so appreciated, so thank you in advance! Nancy

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Comments (10)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
welcome!!!!

so many questions.. so little time..

NEVER.. amend a planting hole.. see link.. study it .. re-study it ... and then memorize it ...

i dont know about planting two trees in the same hole ... if each trunk matures to say.. 6 inches ... wouldnt you want to plant them at least 6 inches apart???? .. i will have to think about this ... and will they strangle each other if interwoven????

and trees are not vines.. they may not take easily.. to wrapping around each other .... see above ...

finally.. for me.. where are you ... a little more specifically than z7 .... it might matter

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
gardenapprentice
10 years ago
No offense the tying they two dogwoods together sounds foolish and will never work. If you have enough space why not plant them on opposite sides of the yard (White one on the left side, pink one on the right). I'm not a fan of the Variagrated Dogwoods but whatever floats your boat. Proper watering and good soil, not full sun, some partial shade, slightly acidic soil. I would suggest another Dogwood (Cornus Florida or even a Kousa Dogwood). Dogwoods can slightly tolerate clay as long as you don't leave it dry and not to wet. Usually the hybrid dogwoods have good disease resistance and some heat tolerance. You also only need to stake the trees for 6-12 months, but sometimes it isnt really even needed only if the tree is in a windy location. Can you also add some pics of the location you want to plant the trees? it helps a lot.
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brandon7 TN_zone7
10 years ago
Some of the potential problems I see with this method are:

1) The two trees will forever be fighting each other to live. There will be competition for water, nutrients, and light. Both trees will probably suffer, at least to some degree, from this competition. There is also likely to be some (maybe unnoticeably small, maybe not) allelopathic effects.

2) The two root system originating from nearly the same location is likely to produce girdling.

3) Trunks and branches rubbing each other frequently invite disease and rot to occur.

4) As the trees grow larger, they may tend to push each other and result in tilting. IF the trunks were intertwined, that might eliminate the tilting problem but might introduce a strangling/girdling problem.

If it were me, I'd consider Gardenapprentice's idea of planting one on one side of the yard and the other on the other.

As Ken pointed out, knowing your location might lead to better advise on what would do well in your location. Also, as Ken said, amending the backfill soil when planting your tree is almost certainly the wrong thing to do!
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
10 years ago
I have seen trees graft cross branches together so I know it is possible.

Chances are one or the other will dominate though and you will end up more or less loosing the other.

How sunny is your location? Dogwoods do well in my old yard's clay but seem to like a bit of shade even when establiahed.
bestkittycat
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow, thank you all for your advice! I had a feeling about the idea of planting them close and twisting the trunks together, couldn't settle it in my mind, so I won't be doing that. But I did think it would be pretty - 2 colors from one tree. Thanks for the link, Ken Adrian, I'll check it out as soon as I post this. I've always added a handful or two of well rotted manure to whatever I'm planting, mixing it in well. Oh well, I should learn something new from this . . . And Gardenapprentice, none taken. I like the idea of a D.W. on each side but the yard is just too small. Maybe after I get it planted, I'll post some pics. We planted a white D.W. in the front yard, probably 18-19 years ago and it seems happy, no signs of disease so far, but it is in full sun. Brandon, thanks for your well thought out points, and I can see these would end up being a problem. I live in mid Alabama, our summers are hot, long and humid. Tornado3800, thanks, and I have seen grafts, and thought that maybe the 2 trunks would eventually grow into each other, but I don't want to risk losing either one so I've decided to plant just the Akatsuki. The place where I'll plant it is in full sun until shortly after 12 noon, then it's in shade until the next day. It's in a well drained part of the yard. I've met and still live next to some of the previous owners of this property, and our whole yard, before they built the house, was a big veggie garden, for many years, and the soil is still pretty good. So now I have a good plan and know what I need to do. Thanks you guys! I'm off to read that link, Ken! Nancy
nyboy
10 years ago
I see this done with ficus trees. Are they the only tree that can be braided?
WxDano
10 years ago
Some fruit trees that need a pollinator are planted in the same hole - old-school trick.

As for training branches into a pattern, that is called 'pleaching'. Don't know if Cornus minds or not. Every few years you see a {{gwi:331408}} spread in a gardening magazine of someone {{gwi:331409}} with the {{gwi:331410}}.
nyboy
10 years ago
I googled pleaching very very cool !!!!
bestkittycat
Original Author
10 years ago
You're right, nyboy, I had a braided ficus and gave it to my daughter. Thank you all for your answers! Nancy
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
i didnt know ficus was fig.. go figure.. going back to bed at 9:32 am.. learned my one new thing for the day.. its all downhill from here .. lol ...

but the link says: Ficus (pron.: /ÃÂfÃÂªkÃÂs/)[2] is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes

and what triggered me to wonder.. was if the ones you have seen pleached .. are actually TREES .... and i have no idea ...

be careful.. when you start thinking houseplants ARE trees.. rather than a plant that 'looks like' or has the form of a tree ... and making presumptions from there ....

bottom line.. try it.. what do you have to lose ... besides time and money ... lol ... but if it works.. you will be called a genius.. lol ... [or a bit 'odd' .. its a fine line.. lol]

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Questions about planting new dogwoods - HELP!

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

gardenapprentice

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