Advice on small flowering trees- Kousa Dogwood or Crabapple

juudyshouse2012

17 years ago

I live in the Pacific Northwest in Washington State with a few acreas and need to plant two ornamental flowering trees one on each side of my front entryway. I had planted Yoshino Japanese Cherry trees a couple years ago, but they started to grow so big that I realized they were too large for the area. I moved them to a better spot and now need to replace them with something smaller, up to 20' or a very slow growing larger tree. I am thinking of the Kousa Dogwood or flowering crabapple tree. We have lots of deer and elk that brouse the area. I use Bobbex and Plantskydd and it seems to work pretty good, (as long as I use it in time. :) What about the crabapple tree? I've heard that they are prone to insects and diseases. Does anyone have experience with this? Or if you have any other suggestions, I'd be open for that as well.

Thanks for your help!

Judy

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Comments (6)

lsu27
17 years ago
I would go with crabapples. I have five of them planted on the north side of my house and they are doing very well. I planted the prairifire flowering crab, has bright red flowers in the spring and red purple fruit. Handsome red-brown bark accents spring and fall foliage. Disease resistant. I got my trees from forestfarm nursery, but can also get these trees from arborday.com or your local nursery. Grows to about 20 feet tall with a 15' spread. Hardy in zones 3-8
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entling
17 years ago
The Morton Arboretum has a list of crabapples which gives their height, bloom color, foliage color and disease resistance. Go to Crabapples for the Home Landscape.

Here is a link that might be useful: Morton Arboretum
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The main reason kousas are recommended over cornus florida is because they are less prone to disease. Dogwoods are a bit problematic. It always seems to be something with them. I don't think kousas look "great" in full sun. As for why pears are a bad idea, here are some reasons why. 1.) They are environmentally unfriendly as they are an invasive species that are taking over native forest including dogwoods (especially dogwoods!) and choking them out with thickets. 2.) They are weak wooded and have narrow crotch angles and break apart in storms. But they will get very big first creating an expensive tree surgeon service call. 2.5) They are short lived. 3.) The blooms smell bad. 4.) The blooms are short. 5.) The leaves drop very late in the season requiring second cleanup. 6.) Surface roots. Big ones. And they are numerous. 7.) Dense shade = no turf, moss, possibly unwanted perennial moisture, shrooms etc. 8.) The people that still grow these don't deserve one red cent. 9.) Partridges 10.) McFlora... yawn. Serviceberrys , crab apples, red maple and cherries are commonly suggested for full sun sites where flowering trees are desired as substitutes for callery pears. None of those are perfect either the small flowering trees in general are not the longest lived in the bunch but anything is better than a 40 foot tree that was planted 5 years prior that literally explodes in a seemingly innocent storm and lands on property or persons requiring thousands in cleanup or insurance deductibles, wrongful death lawsuits etc.
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The B&B'ed rootball seems rather sandy to me, but it is fairly hard as well, so I've been doing to finger test to the first knuckle, and the rootball has been in fact dry. As for watering, I have just switched my method of watering. I am now placing gallon jugs with a small hole over the rootball for the rootball watering, and then keeping the surrounding soil moist. I did the same thing last year on another tree that I planted very late, and that tree is still with us and healthy today. And in fact our Kousa dogwood was planted late as well (but not nearly as late as last years tree). The Kousa planting was late replacement due to being a replacement for 3-4' dog mauled Japanese maple to less than 1', after the Japanese Maple had suffered a late freeze, and was already struggling before the dog maul. But the this later planting ensured that the Kousa got to experience the joys of NWArkansas sudden change of seasons from just above freezing on several nights in the first ten days of May, to rather summer-like now in less than a week. The has also been allot more wind than is normal for months. So I'm sure the weather has slowed it down some as well. Good news is that it seems to be coping, but I know there are stressors, and so I was thinking energy budget for the tree, and maximizing the trees ability to prosper.
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The white flowering thicket is cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera). This is frequently planted here as a root-stock for purple-leaved plums and other kinds, tends to spread from plantings on its own. Sweet cherry (P. avium) is another much cultivated stone fruit that is actually a nuisance species in local woods. It has even insinuated itself genetically by crossing with the native P. emarginata to produce P. x pugetensis. Luckily the hybrid does not seem to be able to generate seed crops. While I'm back I'd like to reiterate that larger-growing cotoneasters in particular can be problem re-seeders here (dozens of species - of all statures - have been seen growing wild in Seattle). Also point out that Prunus mume is an apricot - it even crosses with P. armenica, to produce what are called bungo* apricots in Japan - and not an almond, that there is no 'e' in hawthorn (unless you are talking about Nathaniel and not the tree), and that Rosaceae is a family and not a genus. I suppose some Eastern North American native tree and shrub species may be as foreign to local native birds as those from overseas. *Stock that has been offered locally under the silly name P. mume 'Bongo' is presumably an example of this combination
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That's awesome! Looking at the shape and sizes, I think the neighbor's may be Donald Wyman or Zumi Calocarpa. Regardless, now I can look over several types and see what suits my area best - I had no idea there were so many different crabapples and colors! My only experience has been with a Big Box 'Profusion' (which did very well for me, but I didn't care for the color after a while). Thank you so much for the link, it will be a huge help to me. ~ Cindy ~
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juudyshouse2012
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks! I printed out the list and it has the disease resitance next to it along with the size and color. I'm going to call around the nurseries here to see what's available.

I'm only going to consider the ones that have Excellent in all disease categories. It looks like Prairifire, Professor Sprenger and Centennial would be the ones I'm looking for.

Judy
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laceyvail 6A, WV
17 years ago
Deer REALLY love apple trees, crabapples included. They will come right up to your house to eat the apples. And in winter they'll eat the tree itself. Think this over carefully.
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Dibbit
17 years ago
What deer eat seems to depend on the deer herd - mine, while decimating my vegetable garden and a few perennials, have left my Prairiefires alone - except for 2 of the 3 of them getting buck-rubs, with slight bark-skinning, their first late-winter, which was taken care of with chicken wire cages, so no repeats. I MAY be unlucky in other years, but so far.... You might want to ask around about deer and crabapples, but if the deer have so far left your house off their table, then they probably will continue to do so. Once the trees get into heavy fruit production, if they do, then things might change - the scent of apples can carry a fair distance.
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adrianmonk
17 years ago
I have a Kousa Dogwood, planted about 8 years ago at around 5ft tall. It's about 12 feet tall now, with branches that spread out fairly wide. I planted it myself, probably explaining the slow growth rate. My landscaper worked on it a little last year, and the growth seems to have finally gotten going.

The white flowers come out at perhaps the in mid-May. This annoyed me at first, because all of the other flowering trees seem to do their thing in April, and the Kousa comes out after the party is already over. It does look nice though. In the summer, it's a cute tree, with nice gentle green leaves. One initially gets the impression that the Fall color will be nothing, when it suddenly turns a deep red.

My landscaper just transplanted it to a wider section of my yard where it looks more appropriate. I hope it lives!
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Advice on small flowering trees- Kousa Dogwood or Crabapple

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lsu27

entling

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Advice on small flowering trees- Kousa Dogwood or Crabapple

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lsu27

entling

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