I got a young Dogwood tree in early May this year and all summer it's been holding up well. Until now. I've heard and seen that Dogwoods can be delicate. Our church building is surrounded by them and nearly all of them have gradually died this summer. I'm assuming that's from the heat, no? Because of this, I've been keeping watch over my own little tree, desperately hoping it won't join tree heaven, either. My mom has kept vigilant watch on it, too, and always reports "it looks as though it's beginning to die!" Like I said, it's been staying pretty "chipper" all summer, up until now when mom's words seem to becoming true. I'm posting a few pictures (hopefully) of the leaves on my tree, seeking for knowledge about whether the spots on the leaves are possibly some sort of disease??

 

Where are you, what state and zone?

http://www.ivillage.com/home/garden/zone/


How much rain have you had this year?

Dogwoods can look rough at times. Leaves get all gnarled. New ones that are planted in the open but were raised understory have a hard time adapting, but they will. If the tree looks like fall now, that is, red berries and leaves turning purple, that is a bad sign, unless it is that season where you are. Dogwoods like well-drained, acidic, loamy soil. Their natural environment is in the woods growing under the mature hardwoods. If you kept it watered this summer, it should have laid down a good root system.

If there are other dogwoods dying in your area, you might check with your county extension service to see if there is some widespread problem in your locale.

Pests and Diseases
Borers can attack stressed trees; water during dry weather and avoid damaging the bark with lawn equipment. Plant anthracnose-resistant cultivars.

Anthracnose:

http://www.ctpa.org/dogwood_anthracnose.htm

http://pr.utk.edu/ut2kids/dogwood/killer.html

Hope this helps.

 

Dogwoods only thrive when protected by hardwoods. They need the dappled shade provided by the hardwoods. Dogwoods also hate to have wet feet (ie, need well drained soil).

Where I live, the last several years has been real hard on dogwoods. First there was too much rain in the spring, then a couple of years of not enough rain, now there is too much. Many nurseries have stopped selling dogwoods, except for the chinese dogwood.

I tried twice to have a dogwood grow in my front yard. The first died after one summer. The second barely survived. I transplanted it to the back yard under two maples. It is thriving now - was loaded with blossoms this year.

 

The Dogwood is an early flowering small tree here in the Mountains of NC. Unfortunatly they have a blight, and are dying out.

We have one in the front yard full sun that has to be 40+ years old & is still going strong. I'll hate to see them go, they are a sign of Spring in the Mountains.

 

I have 4 dogwoods over 40 years old. One of them is slowly succumbing to this blight. It seems unlikely that it will live more than a couple of months. Approximately 30% of the canopy has died or has dead leaves. In fact, it is blooming now. To me, this is surely a bad sign.