place for planting dogwood

margarita_dq

Hello, I want to ask you for advice about planting dogwood.

- I want to plant Cornus alba 'Sibirica' near the front door to have gorgeous color against the light wall in winter. The house is located in a pretty sunny region - the sun is shining more than 200 days per year. Is east-facing side would be enough exposed for bright color of the bark? 

- I want to keep this shrub under 6 feet high because of the window above. So I'm planning to prune each year in early spring (beginning of April?). What hight it would be in May-June in this case? I worry if it will be an empty place in the entrance border in late spring and early summer.   

Thank you!

Paul B3

200+ days per year????......I take it you're not in the UK then !

Cornus will grow facing any aspect ; North , South , East or West ; provided your soil is fairly moist continuously . From a Spring pruning (I do mine early March) , you should get about 3-4' of growth in a season .

margarita_dq

Many thanks for the answers to my questions!
Right, not the UK   

Paul B3 said:

Cornus will grow facing any aspect ; North , South , East or West ; 

That is good news! Because I've read that for a really bright color a dogwood should be planted in full sun. But with 192 sunny days per year (checked official statistics) it is hard to provide fairly moist soil on an open area 😄

gutties

Paul B3 said:

200+ days per year????......I take it you're not in the UK then !

Cornus will grow facing any aspect ; North , South , East or West ; provided your soil is fairly moist continuously . From a Spring pruning (I do mine early March) , you should get about 3-4' of growth in a season .

3 - 4 feet or inches of growth?

Fairygirl

Feet. The symbol  '  stands for feet 

Paul B3

If it's so sunny and you cannot provide ideal damp conditions , why don't you think of planting something else ?

punkdoc

Unless you keep the soil damp, it will struggle with all that sun.
They really do not like dry conditions.

margarita_dq

Paul B3 said:

If it's so sunny and you cannot provide ideal damp conditions , why don't you think of planting something else ?

I'm novice gardener and do not know my conditions well - this year is my first outdoor growing season. This spring there was enough water naturally because of the clay soil that stayed wet for a long time. And I thought that since the place is in the shade half of the day I can artificially provide enough water in the period of drought. So I was considering to plant something else before posting my questions because I thought that a dogwood needs full-sun position, but didn't think about problems with moisture in the partial shade before your question. Now I'm not sure. So any suggestions regarding alternative shrubs will be greatly appreciated. 

punkdoc said:

Unless you keep the soil damp, it will struggle with all that sun.
They really do not like dry conditions.

Thank you for the warning. Now I doubt that I can grow happy dogwood. Maybe I need to postpone the decision about planting dogwood for a year in order to know my conditions better (how hard is to keep my soil dump in partial shade in summer).

AnniD

@margarita_dq welcome to the forum  . Could you give us some idea roughly where you ae ? You don't have to be too specific, but it would give a better idea of the conditions you have to contend with. Although this is a UK based forum, there are members in other parts of Europe as well as Australia and South Africa, so if you can give us a bit more information,  l am sure we will do our best to help.

margarita_dq

AnniD said:

@margarita_dq welcome to the forum  . Could you give us some idea roughly where you ae ? You don't have to be too specific, but it would give a better idea of the conditions you have to contend with. Although this is a UK based forum, there are members in other parts of Europe as well as Australia and South Africa, so if you can give us a bit more information,  l am sure we will do our best to help.

Thank you for welcoming me! I really love the forum. Supportive atmosphere and much expert advice - what a beginner needs 

I'm in the European south of Russia. As far as I understand from this year and general statistics for the region (do not have data about the exact place), growing season is almost the same length as in Longmeadow (maybe a couple of weeks shorter). But summers are much hotter - the average daylight temperature in July and August is around +30°C. The average low in January is -1.4°C and temperature could drop to -20°C for several days. I guess it is USDA hardiness zone 6. This year was extremely dry but neighbors say that it is unusual and normally there is a period of drought in August only. The soil is rich clay. During the rainiest months (March-May) it stays very wet.

floralies

Hello @margarita_dq. I live in SW France down near the Pyrenees. late winter and spring are usually very wet and our summers are hot and dry, around 30 for two to three months. I planted three Cornus "Baton Rouge" in the spring this year and it rained for weeks on end. They stood in water for weeks and I thought I was going to lose them. They survived despite the soil being clay. They are in full sun and have done well all through the summer with watering occasionally. There is even new growth at the bottom. I think if you can give them a good soak in the summer they should be fine.