Dogwood Trees in The LandscapeThere are various types of Dogwood trees. Below you will find information on the three major types. By the way, the Flowering Dogwood is one of my favorite trees and I use it constantly in my designs.
Since about the 1970's, this ornamental tree, Cornus florida, has been susceptible to the fungus Anthracnose.
Even in the winter, the branching structure is attractive, thus making it a wonderful all season tree. It is one of our native trees and attracts many birds. You can often see Dogwood trees growing in or on the edges of woods. Although they might blend into the other trees in the landscape during the summer, there is no missing them in the Spring when they flower!
The Kousa Dogwood, or Japanese Kousa (Cornus kousa), is a white flowering, often multi-stemmed tree. It produces raspberry-like berries in the fall.....they are striking!They are quite large and add beautiful color to the tree. I sometimes use a Kousa Dogwood at the corner of a house where I want to provide some strength. It also looks nice in front of a mass of evergreen trees. It has shown good resistance to Anthracnose. It blooms later than the native Dogwood and it also gets quite a bit taller.
Hybrids, or crosses between the Flowering Dogwood and the Kousa Dogwood, have been developed by Dr. Orton at Rutgers University. The purpose of this was to create trees that resembled the Flowering Dogwood tree, but with disease resistance. This has been quite successful. Some of these cultivars are 'Aurora', 'Celestial', 'Constellation', Ruth Ellen', 'Stardust', and 'Stellar Pink'. What is interesting, is that they often bloom in between the times of the Flowering Dogwood trees and the Kousa Dogwoods. Each of the cultivars is a little different. It might be the color of the flower, whether pink or white. Some bloom a bit earlier or later and sizes may vary slightly. Berry production may be different also. I happen to like 'Stellar Pink' for its pink flowers and particularly good disease resistance.
The Flowering Dogwood tree is an ornamental tree that does not get too large, and it can be used many places in the landscape. Place one near the front door and enjoy it throughout all the seasons. Likewise, they are nice near a patio. They are pretty used as an allee along the driveway landscape, as an alternative to shade trees. Although it is not considered a shade tree, it does cast shade. A group of three placed together is eye-catching! (Plant the same varieties together so that when they bloom the flowers will be all the same.) They stand out nicely when placed in front of evergreen trees, whether it be the showy flower, the colorful berries or the beautiful shape. While the Kousa Dogwood's flowers are usually white, the other Dogwoods can be white or shades of pink. Any of these landscape trees are a wonderful attribute to a garden due to their many features. An added bonus, as mentioned above, is the birds that are attracted to the berries of all of the varieties. I often use the Kousa as it is multi-stemmed. This means that instead of having one main trunk, it has many coming from the ground. The Kousa, therefore, provides extra mass and can be used as privacy plants. It does, however, lose its leaves in the winter as it is deciduous. Although it does provide separation, even in the winter, it will not provide the same screening that evergreen trees will. However, that may or may not be important in the winter.
Return From Dogwood Trees to Landscape Trees
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Spots and blotches can appear on the leaves and flowers and the tree can deteriorate.This is so unfortunate, as this is a native tree and has so many lovely attributes.