Dogwood Makes a Pretty Addition

By Jos Van Hage

The Dogwood (Cornus) is a popular shrub in many landscapes because it adds color to the landscape year round.

It has pretty creamy flowers in spring that later turns into summer berries. The foliage on some varieties during the summer is variegated with green and yellow leaves while other varieties have green leaves. There are few deciduous shrubs that can rival the Dogwood in the winter as the dogwood has spectacular colored stems that stand out in the white winter snow.

There are many different varieties of dogwood but not all of them hardy for Prince George (zone 3). Some of the dogwoods that grow well in zone 3 are the ‘Silver Variegated Dogwood’ which has a green and cream leaf. It grows 7 feet tall and 7 feet wide just as the ‘Golden Variegated Dogwood’ does with its yellow, rose and green foliage.

A smaller more compact dogwood is the ‘Ivory Halo’ dogwood which looks just like the Silver Variegated Dogwood but it only grows 5 feet wide by 5 feet tall. The ‘Variegated Siberian Dogwood is similar to the Silver Variegated dogwood but it has a soft deeply veined green leaf. A native dogwood is the ‘Red Osier Dogwood’ which grows 10 feet tall and wide and has green foliage with white flowers and red winter branches.

To keep branches bright in color prune out the older more faded branches each spring. This allows the shrub to make new branches which are brighter in color. To keep the plant uniform in size and compact prune them into shape each spring.  

Dogwoods are easy to look after as they have a good resistance to pests and disease. As with most plants they prefer a rich moist soil and do well in full sun to partial shade. Fertilize with flowering shrub fertilizer 2-3 times during the growing season with the first fertilizing in the beginning of May the second fertilizer 6-8 weeks later and the last no later than mid- August.

 -Jos.  

Jos Van Hage owns and operates three Art Knapp Garden Centres in the Prince George area:

-Highway 97 South at the old Cariboo Highway

-Highway 97 North

-Highway 16 West

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