This is mainly for HairMetal4ever ... Firstly, sorry I'm late in posting back. Your suggestion for a picture was a good one (and I almost uploaded one) but I really decided that I'd just "wait & see". Well, I'm happy to tell you that, at long last, the tree leafed out and looks pretty good. As with most of my trees/shrubs, the harsh winter we had pushed the schedule back about 3+ weeks. But beyond that, the cicada larvae really took a toll on some of my shrubs, especially the rhododendrons - the ends of many branches croaked and withered. But the rhodies are quite resilient and came back. As I said, the poor Kousa dogwood limbs & twigs looked really bad (some were bent almost 180ð) and it took forever to set buds. It finally leaved out and set a few flowers (I'd say about half of what it did the year before) but I'm grateful that it seems to have rebounded. Poaky1 - I hope you don't have the mess we did w/ the cicadas. I remember that period - the incessant racket was surreal - like something out of a Stephen King movie! âº

Actually, I have done this exact thing, starting with a much smaller 1 year old Kousa Dogwood seedling. Although its tendency was to grow in a multi-trunked habit, I trained it to grow with a single trunk. It was a painstaking process, pruning carefully over 5 or 6 years, and removing no more than 10% of the total wood on the small tree each year. So for example, I didn't remove an entire lower branch at one time, but headed it back by about 1/3 each year over 3 years. Once a tree gets considerably larger and its roots get established, you can remove more wood. I even transplanted it to a different spot around year 4. It is a very pretty and healthy specimen. The tree had its first blooms during year 7!

Since 'Wolf Eyes' is variegated, it often develops very good fall color, leaning towards the pink and red tones. But then IME most kousas develop better fall color than other dogwood species anyway. Wolf Eyes is a smaller, shrubby form, seldom exceeding 10', so that may play into your considerations as well. I tend not to favor the 'red'/pink flowering selections much and 'Satomi' is well down on my list :-) The color tends to be washed out and the bracts are small. And in my climate, even the white flowered forms tend to fade to a rosy pink, so you get the benefit of both effects. If I could select only one kousa it would be a variety of chinensis, probably 'Milky Way' - the bracts are enormous and plentiful, virtually obscuring all the foliage when in bloom, and it is a heavy fruit producer as well.

Odds are she had a Saucer Magnolia which are a little more troublesome. I think all trees have their issues though. If you can meet their cutural requirements you don't have to worry as much about the diseases and pests. Magnolias will provide a deeper shade...it would still take some time. Merrill bloomed earlier than Leonard and Royal Star, but the two latter selections don't get very big (well over 20 years maybe). I never had "slimey" flowers on any of magnolias...they did get damaged (browned up) one year from an early frost. Honestly I'm a sucker for Magnolias as I think they have some of the most attractive foilage and branching (winter silouette as well). I'd still try to get a Cornus kousa if you can work it in a spot with good soil/moisture. Interesting branching, nice wine red fall color and don't forgot the flowers! Minors has 'Wolf Eyes'...pink fall color was quite stunning.