New Kousa dogwood tree cavity
mainegard3
10 months ago
I recently purchased a young tree online and noticed a cavity on the trunk. Other than some brown tips on the leaves from being transported, the scratch test shows green healthy wood. Granted, it's a young tree but the cavity as you can tell from the photo consists of a good portion of the trunk. Is this something I should be concerned about?
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mainegard3
10 months agoRelated Discussions
HAVE: Rooted-Kousa Dogwood tree, Nikko Blue Hydrangea plant
Comments (1)Still have these......See MoreYoung Kousa Dogwood has never bloomed
Comments (6)Almost certainly those are seed grown trees, and assuming that is in fact the case, you may be waiting a few more years. Seed grown trees have to mature for a number of years (only they know how many) before they will flower. A grafted tree, takes a branch of another tree that becomes attached to the rootstock (another probable seed grown tree). This grafted portion "knows" that it is already some years old genetically, and therefore will begin flowering earlier. You likely seed grown tree will flower, but nobody can say how long that will be. BTW, flower buds are set in late summer the year before flowering, so you can examine your tree in the fall and determine if it will likely flower the following spring. The flower buds look kinda like an teardrop shaped onion in shape.You can find pictures on the net. Arktrees...See MoreIs my Kousa Dogwood sick?
Comments (1)These are monsoon climate trees and must have moist roots in summer. Flagging and rolling of Kousa dogwood (and also Eastern dogwood) is very common in my dry summer climate. I've got a 'Big Apple' in the back yard that is a chronic problem child, currently repeated sprinklings have resulted in it making new growth at the same time that the mature foliage is droopy! This is not desirable as the added burden of the tender new foliage makes the plant even more vulnerable to being damaged (burned or even killed) by drought. When watering trees and shrubs during dry periods you want to put on enough to maintain them but not enough to promote flushes of tender new growth - unless you can then depend on keeping these adequately supplied with water from that point on. Where there is a problem giving the plant as much water as it seems to want at that time just to maintain its mature growth in good condition, it is better if there isn't new growth present as well. Both are woodland trees (from humid climates) so it may also be possible that hot sun beating on the foliage or roots, or low humidity causes them to roll their leaves even when watering appears to be adequate. When I was a student at Washington State University, located in the semiarid climate of southeast WA I noticed that the only Eastern dogwood on the campus was in an enclosed area, planted in a an island surrounded by a pool....See MoreA couple questions about kousa dogwoods
Comments (35)Wow--thank you everyone for the suggestions! I did call the Lake County nursery about their "Biblical series" after Sue mentioned the "Galilean." The man there was obviously knowledgable about the trees since he grows them (in zone 5) and these particular trees are hardy to zone 4. I think I'm going to go with a variety called "Prophet" (similar to Galilean, but with smaller bracts.) Samzan (as another had suggested has variated leaves--which I'm not as partial to.) It really is amazing to me how a "dogwood" can be so many things. Is it an American Dogwood, or a Japanese? If it's a Japanese, there are a hundred or so varieties to choose from to suit your needs. How big do you want the flowers to bloom? How big do you want the flowers to be? How disease resistant? So many factors to look at before choosing. I didn't realize going in that there are actually different cultivars of the kousa. No one at the local nurseries ever mentioned that---it was simply: Here's a kousa, and here's a florida. Which one do you prefer? Thanks again for sharing all of your knowledge here---I have learned so much from you all....See Moremainegard3
10 months agocecily 7A
10 months agomainegard3
10 months ago
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