Caring for Dogwood Trees Requires Vigilance

With the arrival of warm spring days comes the arrival of the dogwood tree blooms.

Dogwoods are trees native to Tennessee, and the flowering dogwood brings beauty to landscapes across the state. Warren County Agricultural Extension Agent Heath Nokes said to keep the trees healthy, watch for things like fungal or insect-type disease.

“When the tree gets stressed then their immunity is weakened–they’re just like us. If we’re healthy we can resist disease and a lot of problems we may have. If we’re not and our immune system is bad, then that can leads to all kinds of health problems and trees are no different,” said Nokes.

Nokes said that it’s the tree’s blooms that contribute to their popularity.

“It’s just beautiful when it blooms. I mean there are very few trees that can mimic the beauty of them,” said Nokes.

While there are many variations of dogwoods, when we think of dogwood trees we typically are talking about flowering dogwoods. Nokes said the amount of dogwood variations might surprise you–there are up to 60 kinds, including the silky dogwood, the cherry dogwood, and the Japanese dogwood.

Nokes said he strongly advises to be cautious when doing yardwork, as energy the tree uses to heal itself takes the energy away from producing its beautiful flowers.