wind damaged red twig dogwood

I have posted this on several other locations. I am hoping to find out how to save one of my red twig dogwood trees. Friday nights winds left the bush branchless. I now have about six or seven branches in a vase of water with a plant nutrient added. Do any of you folks have experience or any knowledge of how to re-grow from a branch?

Any and all help is truly appreciated.

Ruby

Ruby, I can only share what I did a little over a year ago, had no idea what I was actually doing, but got some Forsythia branches from a friend, had them in a vase until I saw tiny roots and the minute I saw the roots I planted them in the ground, now they have only been growing for a little over a year, but I think I will be getting some flowers next spring ( I only had three flowers this spring)! I did change the water frequently like for any cut flowers and added a little fertilizer once in a while. Good luck! :)

I would think the base will resprout. In fact, I think what I read was that the best red twigs are the young growth, so people trim out older branches. Sprouting from branches varies with each plant. Hope it works! you might get 6-7 new bushes.!
My mom had a common dogwood that we had to cut down. Has kept trying to resprout for several years.

Thanks Bec and Sally. I hope that I will have the same luck that you did Bec.

I was thinking the same things after doing a bit of research yesterday sally. The reading I was doing was saying that some folks prune it almost to the ground, so the twig that is still there might just decide to live.

I will keep folks updated.

Ruby

I wouldn't leave it in water. Some easy-to-root plants will root that way, but you can't rely on it, especially this time of year (I think July is a better time if you could control the timing). The propagation folks will have a more sophisticated approach, but here is my simple approach. I take a 4" pot, fill it with sandy soil. Ideally use relatively soft twigs, maybe 8" long. Stick small twigs in rooting hormone if you have any, and then in the soil. Then drop the pot in one of the long plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in (if you have any). It fits perfectly (at least the bags used locally work). Or else use any plastic grocery bag. Water lightly -- do not saturate the soil. Blow a puff of air in to keep the plastic from touching the plant too much and tie it shut. I leave them by my kitchen sink so I don't forget. Every week or so, open the bag up, tug slightly on the twig to see if it is developing roots -- if it is, it'll resist. Sometimes all the leaves will fall off and the twigs get slimy and die. Oh well. But sometimes they'll root really fast. Most often, the leaves will stay on but no rooting happens at first. But in a month or two, you may have success. Once it is really rooted, leave the bag a tiny bit open, and gradually increase the size of the opening. Then gradually get it used to the outside.

Assuming it roots, the next challenge is how to overwinter the plant, because the timing sn't good for sticking the newly rooted plant in the ground. I don't have a good answer -- I'm trying to figure that one out for myself. But whatever you do, for the first year be sure the drainage is excellent -- I might try potting in in a large pot with a very sandy mix.

Are any leaves at all left on your original plant?

Thanks happy. That all makes good sense. I will try it.

No leaves left on original plant. It was broken off almost at ground level. I am still hoping that maybe the plant won't die, but come back again next year. I would like to save this plant but don't plan to lose any sleep over it. I have two others that made it through the storm okay. This one was just located right out of my kitchen window and I was looking forward to seeing the red bark when it snowed.

Thank you for taking the time to explain this procedure to me. I will let you know what happents.

Ruby

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the wind-damaged plant sent up a new shoot.

Hope your plant makes it, Ruby. That must have been a very strong wind to break the branches like that, I thought those branches would be more flexable.

only been a week but any signs of life yet?

I will go out and look when the sun comes up. I will let you know.

Ruby

I checked yesterday and see that there is a sprout about 2 inches tall left in original planting. Yippie. Maybe all is not lost. As for the pieces that I tried to save, I would guess, that I killed them. Oh well, all is well that ends well.

Ruby