Looks pretty typical for a PNW dogwood planted in full sun at the end of a hot and dry August. I drive by several that look just like that everyday.

I'd also be interested to know what the schedule is for the sprinkler system....how often and for how long? Sprinklers are usually not considered an effective means of irrigation for trees and shrubs.

Was planted a few years ago. It is watered every morning for 7 minutes. I take it a dogwood would prefer less than full sun, and if in full sun make sure to deeply water? I told him to dig a hole after the next watering to see how deep it's getting.

Thanks gg.

^^^ Once again, a lack of knowledge about the topic. The best irrigation systems for trees and shrubs have a low emission delivery - drip, soakers or microheads. That's because they are able to best deliver the water to the root zone where it can be utilized, not spraying out into the atmosphere or onto foliage where most of it just evaporates.

And yes, microheads are a form of sprinkler but a rather specialized form most homeowners are not aware of.

Edited to add: My comment was directed at Jordan/garbagemouth48, not you SB :-)) and who has yet again deleted his uninformed comment!

7 minutes a day on daily basis is almost like not watering at all!! That will barely tickle the soil surface. A longer and deeper irrigation or hand watering once a week during our summers should be good.

Dogwoods are understory trees by nature so are ideally sited where they get at least partial shade.

Yep, I am with gg that it needs ample water, and 7 minutes unless coming out of a high pressure hydrant is like watering with a tablespoon. I'd think more like an hour running slowly would be appropriate.

And I was thinking that was a unmulched planting bed :-) Either way, drought stress.

Also the dogwood is variegated, yes? Even more of a reason it should receive some shade protection from hot afternoon sun.

I suspect there's no way to know this, but he's asking me, "Will it survive"? Assuming he corrects the watering issue of course.

SB - most probably. Just have him bump up the watering.

ETA: I've deleted several comments that no longer apply or pertain to the topic since the pesky little troll deleted all of his offensive ones.

SeniorBalloon- take the end of a hose and lay it near the tree.

Turn on a slow trickle and in 20 minutes move the hose to a different spot in the root zone.

Do that 3-4 times and then your tree has been watered correctly.

It lacks water. And it will likely survive if given water. I would think about getting rid of it. Dogwoods don't like full sun and even if it manages in full sun, it won't look good. It will look thirsty all the time. I've been in a similar situation with a mature dogwood that was likely 30 years old. Always looked bad. I finally had it removed. Glad I did.

Of anywhere in the US, the PNW may be the best place to site a dogwood in full sun as a) we are so far north, the sun intensity is reduced, even in midsummer; and b) it rarely ever gets very hot for more than a day or two at most. You see dogwoods in full sun here all the time and usually they look perfectly fine.....unless they lack adequate water, which can be overlooked by less diligent or knowledgeable homeowners. Certainly no valid reason for removal of this one, although it may appear more stressed than typical due to the variegation.

Watering from a hose end without a sprinkler attached = watering a very narrow column of soil. Unless there is a compacted soil surface that causes the water to spread out sideways (form puddles) before soaking in. In either case why make it so a body has to come back and move the hose multiple times in order to wet the entire target area? Instead of setting a moving sprinkler like an oscillator one time, not having to come back until the area being watered is taken care of?

Oscillating sprinklers are some of the worst in terms of water wastage through evaporation....as much as 30-50%. Even in the PNW, water is a finite commodity so the less wastage the better. that's why soakers or drip or other low emission systems are preferred. Minimal evaporation.

They have an automated sprinkler system and they do try to be water conscious, which is why it was only getting 7 mins a day. That had been enough for the last year and a half, and is certainly working for the other plants in the area. Exactly what they'll do is still being thought through. They do go away for weeks at a time and so the solution will need to be integrated into the system and I don't know what the full capabilities are. They love the tree and one way or another it will get enough water. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

7 MINUTES??!! Try 70 minutes.

Indeed 7 minutes seems way too little, but like I said, that's what it had been getting all last year and it was fine. And last year was much hotter than this year. I just got done speaking with him and learned that, despite only getting 7 mins a day, it had grown so well it caught a gust of wind and was half blown over. I'm guessing that may have some caused root damage and is contributing to the problem.

soakers or drip or other low emission systems are preferred

The previous comment to which I was responding was talking about bringing a hose to the tree, and then taking it away. Something that is not surprising since it appears to be growing in lawn. So that I said that if a body was going to do that they should put something on the end of the hose that would disperse water to the entire area. Instead of having it wet carrot shaped portions with minimal sideways coverage. Resulting in wastage of water because most of it is not reaching the tree. In addition, a small area like this would not be addressed using an oscillator that was receiving a full pressure and volume of water so that it was shooting up into the wind. Speaking of which if we are going to talk about loss of irrigation water to wind maybe instead of jumping on the oscillating sprinklers which are the best option for the very many homeowners and others who are simply never going to set up and maintain a spider web of low volume irrigation in their beds the manure gun style equipment that is ubiquitous on local agricultural lands should be the focus. Water cannons that can be seen producing a huge output that is often blowing away horizontally whenever there is any wind.

They're going to use a tree water bag.

Aren't tree water bags for newly planted very young trees? (Tube stock.) The ones I've heard of seem great, holding about 10 litres of water which slowly trickles out.

ETA: I suppose if you had a lot of them and placed them in many places under the tree...

“it caught a gust of wind and was half blown over. I'm guessing that may have some caused root damage and is contributing to the problem.”

Aha.... useful info. Could very well be the reason it’s suffering water stress this year for the first time.