Blaze of GLORY
Set your garden alight with dramatic and colourful dogwoods in hot and fiery shades of red and orange
GARDENS can be dreary in winter when it comes to colour that’s higher than ground level.
Dwarf varieties of narcissi, plus crocuses, snowdrops and winter irises provide splashes of brilliance just above the earth, but taller shrubs tend to be chosen for spring and summer interest rather than winter brightness.
One exception to this rule is the coloured-stemmed dogwoods. Regardless of what the weather throws at them, they sing out in the gloom from the moment they lose their leaves until spring, when foliage once again masks the beauty of their young bark.
And that is the key – it is the young bark that is the most brilliant.
As the stems age they become duller and more gnarled, and the bright and lively colours they possessed in their youth are but a memory.
For this reason, dogwoods that are grown for their bright stems are best hard pruned at the end of winter – which means any time over the next month for best results.
Hard pruning (cutting them to within three or four inches of the ground) will encourage them to send up a forest of new shoots that, next winter, will be as bright as fresh paint.
At least, that is the theory. But many a gardener has wielded the secateurs during late winter, only to find that the dogwoods hardly respond in spring and the plants are weakened.
The answer is simple – do not go in for such dramatic pruning unless dogwoods are planted in rich, moist soil, and even then not until they have established themselves for a few years.
Only plants with tough root systems can resist severe trimming. If your earth is poor or your dogwoods are newly planted, snip out about a third of the shoots back to three or four inches and leave the rest at full length.
In following years, more of these older stems can be cut back hard, so that over three years the old wood has been replaced with new.
As to varieties, few are zingier than Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, which has stems that verge from bright yellow to luminous pink, and Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ with its shoots of rich crimson. Both have green leaves in summer and make a good backdrop for brighter perennials, but Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’ has leaves that are variegated with creamy white.
The price you pay for this summer show is a duller shade of crimson in its winter stems but it is still a favourite. Grow both kinds and enjoy the best of both worlds.
Pruning will send up a forest of new shoots as bright as paint