I wanted to talk about one of my favorite native plants today for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that it has a pretty little white flower this time of year. The second reason is that it grows so well in Tillamook County. It is a pretty, deciduous, native shrub growing in the northwest from Northern California to Alaska. Red twigged dogwood make good bioswale plants, too. Its alternative name is red osier dogwood.
You will notice red twig dogwood in moist areas along roadsides in the county. It is most distinctive during the winter months because of its bright red bark and lack of leaves. Those branches alone would make it valuable in the garden because precious few things are of interest in January, but it also has nice fall foliage and is pretty in the summer as well with the red branches sporting nice green leaves. Spring brings clumps of the small white flowers, making this a great four-season plant.
Red twigged dogwoods are related to the showier Eastern and Kousa dogwood trees but are much less susceptible to the root diseases of these other plants. Red osiers prefer a uniformly moist growing spot, so if you have a pond or streambed, they would be happy there. These are deep-rooted plants and as such would be good for areas prone to erosion. They do well in sun or part shade, and like organically enriched soil, so they don’t need to be fertilized once they are established. (Fertilizing near a riparian area isn’t a great idea anyway as the fertilizers will leach into the ground water.) If you plant them in areas away from natural water, be sure to keep them well watered for the entire summer after they are planted. Soaker hoses that allow water to permeate deep into the soil would work well for this situation.
The red osier dogwoods will sprout clumps of stems from stolons (thus the botanical name) and would make a good screen or naturalized hedge. To control the dogwoods from over-running your garden into your neighbor’s yard, though, use a spade to cut the stolons as they creep along just under the ground and trim off any branches that touch the soil.
Branches will dull to brown in a few years, so to maintain the best color, the branches should be cut almost to the ground about every three years, generally in late winter or early spring. The new branches will form readily in the coming season and will have the bright red color these plants are famous for. Alternatively, when grown as a hedge or screen, cut back about one-third of the branches each year to avoid cutting the entire hedge down at one time. Red osier dogwoods take well to pruning and don’t mind recovering from a pruning mistake or two.
Plants can generally be purchased in gallon pots from nurseries specializing in native plants. Some on-line companies will ship bare-root plants in late winter, too. These must be soaked in water for a few hours, never allowing air to dry them out before they are planted. Water them in well after planting, too.
About the only problem red osiers have is an occasional bout of leaf spot disease, indicated by dark spots on the leaves. Examine the bushes periodically for the signs of this leaf spot, cankers or scale and remove any infected branches and dispose of them in the garbage. Do not compost or burn any branches with signs of disease.
There are also yellow twigged varieties of Cornus stolonifera that sprout bright yellow branches instead of red ones. These look best when grow in a natural, untrimmed hedge or in large clumps. Growers are also developing dwarf varieties of red twigged dogwood, so look for them in nurseries if your space is limited. I have a yellow and green variegated-leaf red osier dogwood that seems less prone to “enlarging itself.” I don’t know the variety name of this plant as it was a gift from a friend many years ago, but I’m sure it could be found in larger nurseries or on-line. I have pruned mine to be more tree-like than shrub-like but that is personal preference.
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