Once a fungus infection appears - if that's what it is in this case - nothing will really cure it. In general, fungicides available to the home gardener are preventative rather than curative.

The first thing to check is if the trees are alive. Scrape away a bit of the bark and see if there is green cambium just beneath. If there is, the trees are alive.

It's also very difficult, at least for me, to picture the problem. A white film? Everywhere? Can you see swelling leaf buds or are they dry and easy to detach? Given the severity of this past winter, the trees may have died and the fungus is an entirely secondary problem.

i dont trust the ID of some unknown person ...

and especially if it was given by the person who so willingly sold you a remedy ..

post us a picture ... i wonder about lichens... and i wonder if you are not seeing a change in bark due to maturation ... and i wonder how one thing attacks and kills??? two different types of trees on one property .... the odds are so high of such.. that it warps my mind ...

first off.... if you already sprayed ... it would be pollution to do it again ... sprays may kill things.. but they do not make them disappear ...

if you can not post a pic.. call your county extension office and discuss it with them ...

please do not spray again.. until you get a good ID ..

its has been a cold long spring... many things are late ... so we cant even rule that out ...

and no.. fert will solve no problem ... its not an answer for anything.. at this point in time....

ken

ps: i cant think of many maladies.. on the EXTERIOR bark.. that effect the interior of the tree.. especially that show up in the icy cold of winter ... something isnt right here .. we need a pic ... i mean.. we arent even talking about a leaf disease... as i understand it.. you are spraying for bark discoloration ... if i understand it all ...

Thanks for your advice, I'm posting pictures to see if you can come up with an idea of what it may be (if anything). It obviously still show life with where I've made a slight cut in the bark.

Pic # 1 & 2 are of the dogwood trees

These last two pics are of the birch (all three trees are located in my backyard).

Maybe I'm jumping the gun, so to speak, assuming there's a problem.
There are other dogwoods and birches progressing in the area however, they are more mature than my trees.

i see what looks like kid damage.. the bark stripping. .. unless you did that ???? .. all you needed to do was scratch it with a thumbnail ...

and i see some dead branch ends that need to be snipped off.. once it leafs out and you know which parts are dead ..

and i see winter damage..

i see no fungus.. that i would spray for ...

ken

The bark on all the samples looks perfectly normal to me. There are a few dead twigs as Ken said but nothing out of the ordinary after a hard winter. You have unfortunately rather overdone the testing for green under the bark. I hope the trees will recover because otherwise there's nothing wrong that I can see.

Thanks for the advice. I had no idea how to "scrape" the bark seeing as I don't have long enough finger nails to do the job. I will certainly make a mental note for next time that I don't have to go so deep. I love trees in general and don't like the thought of harming them.
I'm happy to hear what you've shared with me. Thanks again for your expertise.

Who told you it was a fungus?

A Lowes employee stated it may be a fungus the way I was desribing the issue.

I suppose you could let them off since they hadn't seen the trees. But honestly, there are no 'issues'. It's good you're studying the condition of your trees so intently and gradually you'll learn what is normal and what is not.