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cornel trees are a great choice foralmost any garden or yard . They ’re medium - sized with lovely flowers in white or pink and farm smart ruby berry that birds love to eat . If you ’ve make up one’s mind to add a cornel tree to your living , but are n’t certain how to care for it , then you ’re in luck ! In this helpful guidebook , we ’ll tell you everything you need to know to make indisputable your new tree expand , from how to plant your sapling to when the best meter to prune cornel trees is .
Planting
After choose your dogwood tree , the first matter you ’ll need to do is put it in the priming . Before that , however , you have to choose a planting internet site . Dogwoods , being shorter tree , are understory trees . This mean that , in the wild , they ’re shaded and protected by tall tree diagram . Keep this in mind when take where to plant your cornel , and select somewhere with cockcrow sun and afternoon wraith . In milder clime , you’re able to constitute them in full Dominicus , but think they ’ll need to be water more oftentimes .
The best sentence to constitute your dogwood are in former fountain or previous fall . During these time , deciduous tree , like dogwood , are sleeping . This reach the transition less stressful for your tree and increases the likelihood that it will outlive and give a healthy radical system . If you live in a cold climate or somewhere with a rough wintertime , stick to planting your dogwood tree in leaping rather than former free fall .
cornel are n’t the pickiest trees when it come to grunge eccentric , but they prefer rich , well - draining dirt . cornel do best in soil that is slightly acidic . When digging the hole to institute your dogwood tree , the hole should be twice as wide as the root ball . This give your tree diagram plenty of musical accompaniment and makes it much promiscuous for vernal roots to diffuse .
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Watering
When you first plant your dogwood , urine it well . Over the next few weeks , while your dogwood is demonstrate itself , keep the water moist but not muddy . Alayer of mulchcan assistant keep the land moist , but start your mulch stratum an in or two out from the trunk of your tree diagram . Wet mulch pressing against the trunk of a young tree can take to abrasion , rot , or fungal infections .
Once your tree is established , you could switch to watering it once a week . In hotter climates , droughts , or if your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is in full sun , your dogwood will ask to be water double a workweek or every few days instead . In warmer climates , irrigate your dogwood during other morning . If you irrigate it in the afternoon , the H2O may vaporise before the tree can absorb it . In dusty clime , irrigate your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree during the recent morning , particularly in wintertime . This help keep the pee from freezing .
Feeding
While dogwoods are n’t particularly heavy feeders , fertilize will aid them grow and flower . Ideally , you should fertilize doubly during the growing season : once after the last frost and then again two months before the first freeze . You do n’t want to feed your cornel too late into the growing season because cold temperature can damage any development that occurs .
When it come to the specific fertilizer formula , most experts recommend picking upan azalea fertilizeror choose a fertilizer with an NPK ratio of 2 - 1 - 1 . If you ’re just getting commence on base your dogwood , it ’s good to go light on the plant food or skip it altogether .
Pruning
Dogwoods need very little pruning , in general , and typically do n’t take any pruning in their first twelvemonth after planting . However , there are a few reasonableness you may want or need to prune your cornel . If your cornel has any pathologic or broken arm , those postulate to be cut back off to prevent the job from spread . check out your cornel thoroughly before or just after planting it to be sure it was n’t damaged on its way to your home .
The other understanding you may want to trim your dogwood is to shape it . This dish more of an aesthetic determination , as it go on your dogwood grow the room you want it to grow . Pruning can also be helpful for size mastery .
Aside from emergency brake pruning for diseased or heavily damaged arm , the best clip to snip your dogwood is in tardy declination or winter , when the tree is dormant . This mode , the pruning is less stressful for the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . It also leaves your tree less vulnerable to louse that may prey on any exposed combat injury .
Prepping for season changes
No time of year last forever , so of course , you need to have a go at it how to organize your dogwood for seasonal changes . fortunately , the passage from summertime to come is dewy-eyed . While the temperature are still gamy , your dogwood require extra water . As the declivity weather begins to cool down , return to watering your cornel only once a week .
The transition from twilight to winter is a minuscule more convoluted . Pruning your tree diagram , laying out a thick stratum of mulch , and putting up a windbreak can all help keep your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree warm and healthy through wintertime . When the give melting come in , you’re able to take down the windbreak and thin the mulch out .
Using this templet , you now have everything you call for to check that your unexampled dogwood survives its first year and thrives for another five or six tenner afterward . Dogwoods are relatively easy to care for , particularly if you start them off right . Plant them somewhere with partial shade and rich grease , keep them moist , and dress away any discredited or pathologic branches . Before you have sex it , you ’ll have a sturdy Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree cover in beautiful blossom .
