One of my small, recently planted (about a year ago) 5-foot tall dogwood trees has sunscald on the southwest side of its trunk. The patch [of sunscald] is about 2" long and 1/2" wide. Is there any hope, or treatment, for this tree?
Patrick
Good question.
First of all the sun in most likely secondary. Second, Cornus florida dogwoods are understory trees and prefer understory sunlight. Second regardless of the "wound" you should treat the system. can you take a picture of the tree and the wound. here are some of the recommended treatments for your tree system. A picture of the wound would be great!
1st requirement is partial shade. Which type dogwood is it?2nd fertilizing / mulching.
The first step in proper fert. is "feeding" and stimulating the soil micros, that in return, alter the chemical elements such as iron, nitrogen, boron and so on so they are in a form that the tree can absorb. Also the mycorrhizae greatly facilitate the absorption of elements dissolved in water. The fungi portion of the composite organ rely on composted wood as its substrate. In fact in a forest, nurse logs are the substrate for the base of the food web, the mycorrhizal fungi. Anyway, I have specific instructions for mulching here:
It used to be 16 essential elements but with techno equipment at Penn State they recognize Ni as an essential element.
Also the organic fertilizer helps feed the micros. Fertilize article:
If you are going to water the tree, just water it enough to moisten the absorbing roots which are in the upper 4" of soil most of the time. Do not water at the trunk but away from the trunk.
If you decide to prune your tree I would recommend this first.
Please get me some pictures of wound, where the trunk meets the soil, and some of the branches. Then I can guide you better.
John,
Thanks for the reply, and all the info!
No sure of the exact type. The tree came from a respected local nursery. I've purchased several from them and have had success. Note the tree was planted at the proper depth.
I understand this and planted this newest dogwood with a group of other small, newly planted young trees. But the other trees haven't grown quickly enough to offer shade to the young dogwood. I also made a mistake in not turning the tree's most prominent branches towards the sunniest side. However, I did place a 3-4 inch layer of pine needles and woods chips at the base of the tree, extending out about
3-4 feet. (No mulch is within 4-5 inches from the base of the tree.) Plus I added large amounts of used coffee grounds to the soil.I'm unable to post pictures. But the wound goes right down to the bare trunk. The bark just peeled away.
To prevent further damage (I know now should have done this to begin with) I painted the S-SW side of the trunk with white interior latex paint.
With this info, what's your prognosis? Chop it down and start all over, or wait and see if it recovers? And is recovery even possible?
Patrick
here:
be:
first.http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/T/tree_pruning.html>> The big thing for your dogwood is soil management and shade.
Actually you had some of the most unfortunate advice imaginable for dogwoods, from someone who appears to be a notorious fraud pretending to expertise about trees he never bothered to obtain.
Sadly due to the ease by which North American dogwoods fall prey to anthracnose, it is generally recommended never to mulch beneath these trees but to keep the area very, very clean of debris. So the details about mulching your dogwood is just terrible advice.
Nor should be you ammending soil near a tree after it has become rooted. Dogwoods like Japanese maples have shallow roots. For the same reason a young dogwood will need plenty of water during droughty periods of summer; regular watering in summer also helps the bark become less susceptible to scald in winter.
Sunnier locations than dogwoods would ordinarily self-select are today recommended because helpful in keeping anthracnose at bay, as this ferocious and today widespread disease gets started in moist humusy areas and gets those dogwoods first, usually after insects that like leaf-litter bring the disease into a mulched area.
The recommendation for a less shaded area does mean that it makes very young dogwoods more susceptible to sunscald (though bigger ones with plenty of foliage won't be harmed by the sunnier locations; even in self-selected spots the mature dogwoods reach bright sun & only youngsters prefer shade).
It helps to plant some medium-sized shrub nearby that will shade the trunk of a young dogwood or any thin-barked sapling like a baby Japanese maple, then when it's big enough and branchy enough to be tougher and to partially shade itself, the smaller shrub will be below the tree's foliage, or if in the way the shrub can just be sacrificed. A sun-hardy evergreen rhody like "Nova Zembla" is sometimes a good permanent companion for a dogwood, though other rhodies would have some of the same issues as the dogwood about too much sun.
Dogwoods are most prone to sun scald when temperatures are low, perhaps because there's less surrounding foliage for shading the thin bark, perhaps because the tree is semi-dormant and not taking in much moisture. Scald to leaves is no big burden but to bark can make a dogwood more susceptible to disease. Really the only aid is not letting it get too dry in summer, and planting something nearby that can shade the trunk enough of the day that it doesn't end up cooked.
-paghat the ratgirl
Thank you. I have some answers that need questions.
I also made
They will probally find their way soon.
However, I did place a 3-4 inch layer of pine
The distance from the trunk is better than most do it in my area. However, I hope you are not using fresh (symplast maintaining) chips. If there was living cells (parenchyma) in the material chipped, then I would wait one year before spreading.
Painting trees with latex paint stems from a time when women were in charge of everything inside the house. The man was in charge of every thing outside the house. They had two rules. 1. If it moved it got greased. The gate, the barn door etc. 2. If it did not move it got painted white. That meant the rocks, the fence, the trees. May sound funny but that's how painting trees white started. Not going to help your tree though. Wish it would.
A tourniquet around the neck will stop a nose bleed. Starving the soil is extreme!
This guy calims rather than mulching over turf grass that the turf grass is better for the tree than mulching correctly? I don't think so: When I say mulching I mean this:
Where do you live? State, country, province, etc.
About mulch Trying to grow trees in sick soils is the same as telling a person you have beautiful teeth but your gums must go.
Northwest Florida.
Patrick
OK. And, what was the full Latin name of the dogwood you bought? Do you still have the tag?
It's probably C. Florida. It is very prone to anthracnose. Look up anthracnose and then at the top of the Google page will be images. Look at those.
I asked not because of disease, but because I know NOTHING about whether his tree is one that is found growing wild in Florida, and if so, whether it grows WELL, or just sort of eeks out a sad existence. My only exposure to dogwoods is in NY, and the ones that grow beautifully aren't in the middle of a lawn. They're in the woods, under bigger trees, in dappled sunlight with a nice thick layer of duff on the forest floor.
I have five other dogwoods, of the same exact variety, in my yard and all are doing extremely well. Two of them are over 20-foot tall. None are in "dappled" sunlight.
Patrick
What's the full Latin name & variety of those trees? Do you still have that information?
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com expounded:
That may be true, but that isn't an ideal situation for them. Dogwoods are an understory plant happiest in dappled shade. If you've got one that's stressed by disease then the sun is really going to bother it. I've got anthracnose on the dogwoods in this yard and they're doing pretty well, all things considered, because they are on the edges under other trees.
I wonder if Patrick has ever seen dogwoods growing in their natural habitat, where they really rock & roll.
I am just shaking my head yes. from anything I have ever read or heard, Joe, it seams they require the conditions you mentioned. I'll bet they also do well with nurse logs.
I will take some pictures of buds on Cornus florida and you can let us know if they match yours. I have some pictures now but they are of buds just forming. They would look different than that now. Maybe I will scan some tomorrow.
Dogwoods in their natural habitat are generally not prone to disease unless there are cultured areas nearby which have infected trees. People don't know how to plant trees properly and then wonder why their tree dies ten years or less later.
No idea. But, springtime around here is amazing in certain parks. The dogwoods and rhododendrons are astoundingly gorgeous.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.