bringing a dogwood back from its death bed

[sweetft5]

Hello, I have a flowering dogwood I am trying to save from my boxer's attempt of killing it. Last fall this tree stood about 4ft tall and through the winter my boxer puppy started bitting off the branches. I thought I could teach her to leave it alone (wrong) but she got every last branch and at that point I thought it was a goner and so I just let her use it as a chew toy. She got the main trunk down to about

1ft. This spring I pulled it out so I could put in a new tree and the roots looked great, I checked under the bark and amazingly it was green, so I planted it into a pot to see if I could get it to grow and sure enough a few weeks later a few buds started sprouting from the trunk. I have now planted it back in the yard and it is doing great, although it now looks like a small shrub. My question is should I cut all of the branches off except one (the highest one?) that will become the new trunk or do I just let it grow as is? I am not sure if the main trunk will gain height with it being severed and all. Thanks for any advice.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

The growth sounds more like suckers than normal growth. Are the sprouts coming from anywhere near the bottom? If so, give it a nice funeral, buy a new tree, and shoot that stupid dog. Attacking plants like that is pure evil.

[symplastless]

It most likely was not buds but meristematic points forming sprouts.

I have now planted it back in the yard and it is doing great,

Wait until the next growing season before pruning the tree.

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist

Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

[symplastless]

I forgot: When I say pruning, what do I mean

Sincerely,

[sweetft5]

Thanks- Are meristematic sprouts isolated to roots only or can they form from the trunk? The growth is occuring all along the length of the tree, with the most established branch/sprout being right under the point where the trunk was severed (about 1ft from root ball). This is now 6inches long and has started to harden like the original branches, I hope this is a good sign.

[Tom J]

I'd just let it all grow until early next spring. That's when I would select the most upright branch to be the trunk and remove the rest. OR, leave it as it is and as it grows taller it will shed the lower limbs on it's own. I have some that are branched at 3 feet up and others that are branched at 15 and 20 feet up. It depends on where they are in the forest cover.

Tom J