Dogwood tree cornus

Question

I have two dogwood trees – one in the front and one in back. I have had blooms on the trees in previous years, but last summer had none. The tree in the back is only about a year old to me – 6′ But when I bought it it had tons of blooms – nothing last year. The front one is about three years
and last year no blooms either. They Re both in full sun. Any help you could give me would e greatly appreciated

Thanks for your time

Lena

Answer 1

I wish I knew what type of dogwood you have. In general, anything that causes stress will decrease flowering. Dogwood likes part shade, especially shade from hot afternoon sun. After transplanting, the tree has to focus on root development so I'm not concerned that it didn't flower last year. Flower buds are formed in late summer for next spring bloom. If you don't see any flower buds now, figure out what is stressing the tree. Does it get watered during dry spells? Do you have warm periods in spring followed by frosts/freezes? If the warm period lasts a few days, buds will start to open and the following frost/freeze ruins the flower. (a common problem with magnolias where I live)
I recently read that up to 90% of professionally planted trees where not done correctly, a depressing statistic. At this point you don't want to dig them up and examine how the roots are doing but you should be able to see the "root flare". Dogwoods are also susceptible to a few diseases. If you spot anything amiss, do you have a garden center or government office where you can get help diagnosing a problem? I found this article: http://www.gardeningbc.com/page/brianminter3.html
You might check out Extension.wsu.edu for information on dogwood care in PNW. If you need more help, please write back with the type of dogwood you own.