Odd Dogwood Problem

[abyram]

I recently purchased a new home that is surrounded by dogwoods - some of the trees look great, but the rest have light green leaves with dark-ish spots on them (which from what I've seen online could be a fungal issue?)...but the odd thing is that the trees with this problem don't have any foliage from the middle of the tree to the top - just completely bare branches. I'm seeing plenty of information about the spotting on the leaves, but are these bare branches caused by the same types of fungal problems? Any advice on where to look for a solution as it seems this is a serious problem? (one of the dogwoods died before I bought the house) Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

- Adam

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Where do you live?

[sockiescat]

- Adam

Where do you live?

your problem might be Dogwood Anthracnose. here is a link that might give u some help. good luck i sure hope i helps u. cyaaa sockiescat.

sockiescat

[John A. Keslick, Jr.]

Cornus florida dogwoods do not like full sun for starters. Improper pruning and care may well have caused your problem.

Here is some links you might enjoy.

KESLICK AND SON MODERN ARBORICULTURE My resume is at

are some links you may consider adding to your site. They are case sensitive.

1. Techno Tree Biology Dictionary . Look up "logging".

1. Articles written by DR. ALEX L. SHIGO, one of the foremost authorities worldwide on tree systems today online at Literature Available by Dr. Shigo is here: Hard to get Documents If you have any suggestions please let me know. 610-864-5251

[abyram]

Knoxville, TN

[abyram]

For Dogwood Anthracnose, it sounds similar except it's the top of the tree that is looking dead (or is dead) and the bottom still has leaves

- which sounds like the opposite according to the link there. I'll inspect the trees more closely to see if I can notice anything wrong on the branches or trunk though because I don't remember seeing anything, but I wasn't looking at those areas as much as the leaves.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Most state cooperative exensions services offer free advice to homeowners with garden problems. Tennessee's doesn't specifically mention this service on their site, but that might be an omission. Try contacting someone on this page:

it's possible for people online to offer general advice, some of which may end up being accurate, it's also a good idea to get local information. Some plant diseases can be region-specific due, for instance, to local weather patterns that cause a worse outbreak than usual.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Keep in mind that this type of disease can be much worse in some years than in others. In 1982, my dogwood looked hideous. Knowing little about it, we brought in a tree "expert", who sold my wife on the idea of having these little vials stuck into the tree, like hypodermic needles. Without this expensive treatment, he assured us the tree would be dead within a year or two. The next year, the tree looked bad, but no worse than the previous year. Then, it looked perfect for a number of years. It's had a few off years, but it's still alive today. The best advice we found over the years, for *any* fungal tree problem, is to rake up diseased leaves and discard them, rather than leave them lying around as mulch.

The previous owners of the house planted it in the wrong place, two feet from a blacktop driveway. Dogwoods are NOT happy living near what is essentially a hot pancake griddle. This doesn't cause disease, but it does not make for a tree that's as healthy as it can be, and able to fight off disease.

[abyram]

Thanks a ton for all the advice everyone! I'll see if I can find someone local to get some more detail too. Thanks again

[Travis M.]

There is no solution for Anthracnose.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Amazing, isn't it? This is what makes gardening interesting. A creature that requires a microscope to identify can mess with us and our pet plants any time it wants, and there's not a damned thing we can do about it. We should be impressed and humbled.

[John A. Keslick, Jr.]

The thing is, anthracnose has been around for a zillion years. Some factor or factors place the tree or trees in a predisposition and the anthracnose comes out. See Armillaria Root Rots, Predisposition and Poor Sorauer on the topic of predisposition.

believe one of those factors is exposure to greater amounts of sunlight. Yes, people say we have anthracnose in the woods. Then we ask them, did they cut the over story trees. People tend to plant them in full sun because they appear to flower more in the sunlight. Just a few thoughts.

Sincerely,

John A. Keslick, Jr. Beware of so-called TREE EXPERTS who do not understand TREE BIOLOGY!

fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss. Some people will buy products they do not understand and not buy books that will give them understanding.

[Mike in NC]

John,

Around here, many dogwoods have been lost to anthracnose. The stressors seem to be excess sunlight (from cutting down the taller trees), occasional salt spray (from hurricanes), and excess wind (our usual condition, but exaggerated by loss of the larger trees), and summer drought. Borers help twist the knife, but I suspect that because the trees are weaked by other factors, the borers have a much easier time.

Mike

John A. Keslick, Jr. wrote:

Mike On the North Carolina coast - Zone 8a (Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)