Kousa Dogwood, Chinese Dogwood, Japanese Dogwood

It is a pretty tree with handsome bark and good red fall color. However, It bears large aggregate red fruit that is good for monkeys in e...Read Moreast Asia, but not useful for American wildlife, and it makes such a mess in late summer. I don't recommend having branches hanging over patios, decks, or pavement. The only creatures I have seen eat the decaying fruit on the ground are Yellowjackets and ants. It was planted a lot starting in the 1990's because many thought that the Asian fungus disease of Discula canker would kill off the American Flowering Dogwood when it hit the Mid-Atlantic in the 1990's. Such is not the case. There are still many good, healthy American plants around now in 2015. The American species has small red fruits that are of high wildlife value and are not messy.

I had 2 of them planted 5 years ago. One is in a sunny location and the other is in more shade. They have never flowered well, maybe 5 ...Read Moreor 6 flowers on each. What should I fertilize them with?

Also,they are getting pretty tall, but not spreading out at all. Would it be a good idea to prune them? I do cut off any branches that have no growth on them.

I always have wanted a Dogwood for our area, Zone 5b,but knew that they had certain requirements for their growth so I did my researching...Read More and hunted for a more hardy variety and came up with the Korean Dogwood. I selected and planted this particular specie of tree last April (2012). It is about 4 ft high, rather bush like in some respects. We bought it a Lowes, of all places and a reasonable price too.

We used a root stimulator for transplanted trees and amended the soil we planted it in. We planted it in a spot that use to have a beautiful Star Magnolia in it. I researched this tree carefully because this is a sunny location and I know they are under story trees. From what I have learned they can handle more sun then the American Dogwood, and are much more disease and drought resistant too. It did have a few "flowers" on it then, and I noticed the leaves are rather dull and "leathery" to touch. Also "some what ribbed" in texture.

Unfortunately we had one of the hottest summers on record last year for this newly planted young tree. We carefully watered this new tree all summer long. Even though it dropped some leaves then, this year it shows signs of leafing out and we are happy to know that it looks as if it will make it.

The question I have is does it take a long time for it to leaf out? The buds are opening and we are just seeing some green starting to barely appear, almost in slow motion. Is this normal, as all the other trees ( Maples, Crabs, Pears, etc) are way ahead of it. I also understand that these are very slow growing trees. And that they don't bloom until June.

Any additional information you can give would be helpful.
Thank you

We have had a Cornus kousa in our Zone 7a, Petersburg, VA, yard for thirteen years now. It has grown slowly but steadily. My husband di...Read Mored not consider it as graceful as the wild dogwoods --Cornus florida--but it is not susceptible to the anthracnose which is killing them off. I pruned it to better expose its branches, which has made a significant improvement. It is a lovely tree.