Home & Garden Trees & Houseplants

How to Prune a Dogwood Bush

By Home & Garden Last updated Sunday, May/12/2024

1). Prune your dogwood bush annually in the fall. Wait until all the blooms die off and the leaves drop. This gives your dogwood the winter to grow enough roots to support a profusion of spring growth.
2). Snip no more than 2 inches from each dogwood stem in the second year of its life. More than this could stress your dogwood and cause it to sicken. Do not prune during the first year for the same reasons.
3). Cut each dogwood stem back so that only two buds from the past year's growth remain. Snip the stems on a 45-degree angle and discard or compost. Prune this way in the third year and every subsequent year of a dogwood's life.
4). Trim away about four old stems each year after the third. This helps keep your dogwood a manageable size. Cut away the stems at the base; look for spindly, dying or diseased stems to sacrifice.

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