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Kousa Dogwood Pruning

last year

Recently planted 5-foot Kousa Dogwood in spring, it's doing well despite a heat wave! If I'm looking to encourage a top-growth pattern, how soon should I begin pruning the bottom branches, and how many should be pruned at once? I presume winter is the best time?

Comments (8)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Pruning a flowering dogwood should be approached in the same manner one does a magnolia......as lightly and as infrequently as possible. Two tree species that react poorly to pruning by producing excessive epicormic growth that is unattractive and congestive. Where it is recommended to limit pruning to no more than 1/4 to 1/3 canopy reduction, for dogwoods and magnolias, that drops down to only 10%.

I'd give the tree a couple of years in the ground to establish before ANY pruning is considered. Lower branching should never be removed too early. It helps to develop trunk girth and speed root development and establishment.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
last year
If I'm looking to encourage a top-growth pattern, how soon should I begin pruning the bottom branches

==>>> no..no..no.. you dont cut pieces off to stimulate growth ...

every leaf is an energy making machine ... needed to grow a mature root mas.. to get the plant to grow to specs ...

so for the next 2 or 3 years.. no pruning.. period ...

thereafter.. the plant will SHOW you its growth pattern..and you can SELECTIVELY encourage it in any direction you wish ....

and dont bother wasting time nor money on fert.. shrubs simply dont need such ..

ken

ps: i would not winter prune in my ground freeze MI .. and since you didnt tell us where you are.. we cant tell you the best time to prune ...
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Hi bluebars, It has been awhile, so I hope you are still visiting this forum. I had another arborist(pruning specialist) out regarding all of our trees. This arborist said that the reason our kousas were splaying was due to excessive new growth in relation to old wood. In other words, the older wood was not able to keep up with all of the new growth. It just wasnt strong enough to handle it. The solution was to cable the trees and have some light pruning done to lighten the new growth. The cabling should only be on the trees for a couple of seasons until the tree is a bit stronger. I hope this helps. Our trees were serviced today and they look so much better. I am so glad I had this arboritst come and take a look. His name is Bill Brittan and his company name is Arbortecture. He is in Myersville, Maryland. I am not sure if he services your area, but it is worth a try. I am in Frederick. I was very happy with his service. Good Luck! Melissa
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Yeah, it's too young to do any serious pruning, unless you want to make it have one leader. It will fill out itself without shortening the tops. Cutting them like that will make a bush out of it and then at some point you will have to prune it as a tree. Treat it as a tree from the start and things will be a bit easier. Prune to minimize ice and snowload if you want. The layered branches catch a lot of it and I have had damage over the years. They seem to be able to repair themselves rather well though. I have four large ones and about 50 in five gallon pots, and about 50 more small seedlings. I'm about to make some local trades. :-) Here's one of mine in bloom. Mike
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Congrats ! You REALLY have a beautiful specimen there....with a promising future ! But the apparant neglegence in not doing much, if any type of proper pruning to gradually 'train' this dogwood into any specific growth pattern from the get-go, that would have better suited and 'customized' it's location at the corner of your house...has jeopardized both the long-term value of this tree in your landscape, as well as the integrity of the tree's physical structure, itself. But I believe it's not too late! From the pics, it appears that someone who's qualified could take out a number of the necessary competing internal branches in a very 'gradual' fashion...over a COUPLE of years...so as to not later spur on a great deal of potential (and undesirable) water sprouts in the canopy. This person who prunes this tree has to first figure out what type of growing 'pattern' they can salvage for your tree. And then they will go from there... bluebars, to give you some idea what I'm talking about, you should be able to see "THROUGH" a kousa dogwood, to a very small degree. ( no kidding ) ( : I would 1st recommend waiting until the tree's FINISHED blooming, of course. Then find a REAL pro who sincerely knows what he / she's doing with dogwood / apple / other trees of this nature when they prune them. ( and that, of course, means NOT "topping" them !!!) Pre-qualify them for their credentials. Do yourself a big favor. WATCH what he / she does, closely, when they're working, without getting in their way, of course. Maybe run a close-up video, for your own self-training porposes, if they're OK with it. Let them teach you.
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This is a very old post. I'm wondering if you're still living at this same location? I have two dogwoods. One is a Cornus Kousa like yours. I've done some research about pruning Kousa dogwoods and the advice I read said NOT to prune in the early spring or summer because the tree will be vulnerable to dogwood borer. Apparently they are attracted to the exposed inner wood of the tree and will lay eggs in it. It's the only real pest the Kousa has, so do wait. Some people get away with it and therefore think it's okay to prune whenever their tool is in their hand, but I don't like to tempt fate. The Kousa I have is a clump variety with three equal-sized trunks coming from the ground. Last year I noticed the leaves on one of the trunks looked pale. I was dismayed and worried when I examined the trunk these pale leaves grew from and saw that a lot of the bark had come off. This year to my surprise, all the leaves on that branch look fine. Of course the bark is still missing in lots of areas, but the leaves growing from this trunk look fine. I have no idea what happened. I'm just glad that it seems okay. To make a long story short, don't prune your dogwood till late winter, very early spring. It's not worth the risk. If you're still at the same address when you wrote back your dogwood, please write back and let us know how the Kousa you wrote about is doing.
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Greg Joseph
Original Author
last year
I find it strange how varied the information can be sometimes, on these subjects. I live in NJ.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
Online info varies because those providing that info possess varying degrees of experience and expertise. Some are great.......some don't have a clue!
Greg Joseph
Original Author
last year
Ken, I am in zone 6b, and what steps are best after a few years and the growth pattern is clear to promote upward growth vs sideways.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
By nature, kousas are relatively short trees with a widely spreading canopy. Almost always wider than tall. I am not sure how much luck you will have attempting to get it to grow contrary to its natural habit.
Greg Joseph
Original Author
last year
I mean - I've seen them heavily pruned from the bottom and as a result reach higher vs some that are much wider. I'll just use my instincts. Thank you.
cearbhaill (zone 6b Eastern Kentucky)
last year
"what steps are best after a few years and the growth pattern is clear to promote upward growth vs sideways."

As everyone keeps telling you fighting against natural growth patterns is a losing game. If you needed a narrow tree here a Kousa might not have been the best choice.

That said- let it grow to develop some trunk girth. Over the years do some reading and educate yourself as to aesthetic pruning techniques- you can absolutely influence the future growth of most plants by carefully chosen pruning cuts. But you can't just dive in with a lopper- you need to understand how to encourage the limb grow to the left vs. the right, to grow upward instead of outward etc. - how to redirect growth.

It can be done but you need to study up.

One book I might suggest is The Pruning Book by Lee Reich.

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