As flowering trees go, the dogwood tree is one of the most popular. Most common being the white flowering dogwood, but you will also find pink flowering dogwoods
When should you prune a dogwood tree? From late fall to late winter while the dogwood tree is completely dormant. Once the buds start swelling it’s too late. This is optimal, but you will be removing flower buds for the spring season.
There are a few reasons why you need to prune during this timeframe and it doesn’t really matter which variety dogwood you have. But the grafted dogwoods have one of the biggest issues.
Can You Prune A Dogwood Tree?
The straight answer to this is yes, you can. Some care needs to be taken on when you prune a dogwood tree and how much you prune off at one time.
Most dogwood trees don’t need much attention in the pruning department. They keep their shape fairly well by nature. Most issues arise when they are planted in less than optimal spaces.
Best Time to Prune a Dogwood Tree
People ask if they can trim a dogwood in the summer or cut back a dogwood in the fall, but the best time to prune a dogwood tree is in late fall until late winter. This is when the dogwood is completely dormant.
There are 2 main reasons to only prune during the dormant period. Insects and oozing sap.
Dogwood Borer Insect
The first reason is probably the most important one. There is a dogwood borer that is attracted to freshly cut areas on dogwoods.
They are most active from April through June, so it is definitely advisable not to do any pruning during that time frame.
The larva actually do the most damage by working on the roots of the dogwood.
Grafted dogwoods are especially susceptible to the dogwood borer. While a grafted dogwood is more of the exception instead of the rule you might want to figure out if your dogwood happens to be grafted, so that you can pay close attention to the signs.
By only pruning your dogwoods during the dormant periods (winter) the insect will not be present, so you can keep your dogwood tree strong and healthy.
Dogwood Sap Oozing
When dogwoods are actively growing during the spring and summer months they produce an amazing amount of sap.
If you cut off a branch during this time period the dogwood will ooze or bleed a large amount of sap which should be feeding the tree itself.
Your dogwood needs this energy to stay healthy and to grow, so it’s best to avoid trimming dogwoods during the spring and summer time.
Another Great Reason To Wait Until The Dogwood Is Dormant
Once all the leaves have falling out the dogwood in the late fall since it is a deciduous tree, you can clearly see all the branches of the canopy.
This enables you to easily see if there are crossed branches that need to be removed. You can also easily notice branches that are not growing in the same direction as the majority.
Dogwoods have a tendency to grow sprouts that go straight up instead of outward away from the trunk, if they are in a more sunny area. Once the leaves fall off it is much easier to see these sprouts.
Prune These Anytime
Damage Branches
If a branch is damaged by a storm or other reason, you should prune it immediately to enable the dogwood to start healing the wound. By making a clean cut the tree will be able to heal over the area efficiently.
This will minimize the risk for having an insect problem. With damaged limbs there can be many places that attract the destructive insects.
Dead Branches
From time to time you will get some dead branches in dogwood trees. Normally it will be the lower ones that don’t get enough sunlight, but it can happen to any branch.
Once you notice a branch that is dead or dying, go ahead and cut it out no matter what time of year it is. Leaving a dead branch only leaves the tree susceptible to disease and insects.
Remove it back to a fork on the branch that is alive or just simply remove the whole branch back to the trunk by cutting the limb off right at the limb collar.
Diseased Branches
This goes without saying, if you determine that a branch has a disease, go ahead and remove it back to a good healthy section.
Sometimes you will notice the leaves turning a different color from the rest of the tree which could mean there is a disease. One method to determine if its a disease is to Google the symptoms.
Do the leaves have spots? Are they yellowing? Is there a gray power look to them?
Before you remove the branch Google the symptoms to make sure it isn’t something that can easily be cured. You can also check with your local Agricultural Extension Service for their advice.
Trunk Suckers or Water Sprouts
From time to time you might see some suckers going out of the trunk or at the base of the trunk. They usually grow straight up almost parallel to the trunk whereas an actually limb will grow perpendicular to the trunk.
They start off as just a couple of little leaves. Then you will see a short stem. If you notice them early you can simply just pinch them off with your figures.
If they have become fairly woody then you will need to cut them off with a pruner or lopper.
It is best to remove them as soon as you notice them, no matter what time of year it is.
When Should I Prune Kousa Dogwoods
Doesn’t matter which variety of dogwood from pink, white, or red flowering dogwoods to Cornus Kousa which is sometimes referred to as the Chinese dogwood, Korean dogwood, or Japanese dogwood, it is best to prune during the winter dormant period.
Cutting Off Bloom Buds
One drawback to pruning your dogwood in winter during the dormant time is that you will be cutting off the bloom buds for the spring. This can’t be helped since the dogwood tree sets its buds during the growing season the year before.
Just keep this in mind when you are pruning and try not to cut off too many flowering buds. Consider doing heavy pruning in stages from year to year so you still have a nice flower show the following spring.
Or you can just bite the bullet and trim what you need to, knowing that it might be a couple of years before you have that great flower show again.
Optimal Time To Prune For Flowering Buds
If you don’t have a dogwood borer issue in your region, you might consider doing some light pruning right after the dogwood finishes flowering.
This gives the dogwood plenty of time to develop bloom buds on the branches that are left.
If you choose to prune at this time, keep in mind that there will be plenty of sap oozing. This won’t kill the tree but it might weaken it a bit which can invite issues and stress that the tree has to overcome instead of spending its energy growing.
Related Questions
When should I prune back dogwood shrubs? You will want to prune or cut back the dogwood shrubs while it is dormant, similar to the dogwood tree. But you can prune in the early spring up until you see grow.
Can you espalier a dogwood tree? Yes, it just means that you are training the trunk and branches to follow a structure. A flowering dogwood makes a great espalier tree in a courtyard or small landscape area. Or on a wall where you want to block sunlight during the summer but have the sunlight to heat the wall in the winter.