Dogwood Advice (Photo's Attached)

[Brian2412]

Same deal as the others...I've recently moved to Richland, WA (Eastern Washington) and have a young dogwood tree growing in the back yard. Im not sure when it was planted, but the house was built in 2005 so I can assume that the tree was planted some time since then.

My questions are:

1) When should I prune (late dormancy or mid-summer)? I plan on pruning all of my trees in the late winter, but before spring (probably early February). Do dogwoods require much pruning?
2) Is this tree over crowded with limbs? It looks like it needs thinned out to me, but again, Im new to all of this and am not familiar with the dogwood. Please make recommendations.
3) Should I spread any of the limbs out? Please make recommendations
5) How old do you think this dogwood is? Should I be concerned about its smaller size?

Attached are photo's of the tree.

As a reminder - We are zone 7 (although, probably closer to a high 6). My soil is like beach sand when I dig. At the recommendation of the local nursery, I added soil amendments to try to help the tree (cutting out grass around the base) and mixing native soil with compost. I've also staked it to help with our high spring winds, however, will be removing these over the weekend.

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Hello Brian,

I'm not an expert, and your dogwood must be a different kind than the ones i have. But mine make a nice spread on their own. I would personally not prune that baby you have in the picture....certainly not right now.

I'm sure others have more specific advice, and i am a newbie, but that is my thought for you.

Last year, i went around to the dogwood trees and simply took off the small branches that were dead. That's it. I think they are naturally shedding some smaller branches they don't need anymore. Your little baby there needs time to grow in my opinion.

Welcome to TEG!

 

[journey11]

I don't know about all dogwood varieties, but the two I have got whacked with the mower and turned into bushes! They really have a weird growth habit, these white ones I have.

I think your dogwood will turn out nice just the way it is. The only thing you might consider is if you want the branches high, so you can walk under it, or if you like it rounded out the way it is. If you want it high so you don't get bonked in the head when you're mowing, you could take off the lower most tier of branches (the little bitty ones).

 

[Rosalind]

I have never, ever pruned that particular type of dogwood, and the extra-nice thing about that kind is that you will never need to. They are wonderful like that!

 

[HiDelight]

I agree no pruning this dogwood

 

[4grandbabies]

We have wild dogwood growing abundantly in our area.. Even have a dogwood festival at blooming time in the spring. I personally would see no reason to prune this tree except for the reason Journey mentioned.