Redtwig Dogwoods Bring Color to Winter
Redtwig Dogwoods are one of my favorite shrubs for winter color. It’s an attractive shrub spring through fall, but once the leaves drop off, you really get to enjoy the bright red stems.
Those stems really show up in a winter landscape, particularly when silhouetted against snow. They are good in a shrub border, or massed in a large group. You sometimes see big groupings naturalized around ponds, and that’s spectacular.
Redtwig dogwoods are fast growers, and very easy to grow. They grow to about a 10′ height and a diameter of about 15′. They will adapt to almost any soil and will grow in sun or light shade.
To encourage new growth with bright red stems, prune off at least one-third of the old growth every spring.
This photo was taken at Blacksburg Motor Works, so if you want to see what this shrub looks like in person, take a drive over and check it out.
February 22, 2013 - 1:00 PM
Karen, I bought lawn fertilizer last October, but never applied it……….because I don’t like to apply it in a drought condition with no good prospect of it turning wet soon. I was hoping to apply it in November but it stayed dry.
It’s plenty wet everywhere around here and prospects are good for a normal rainfall spring. Should I apply it now or wait until sometime in March?
Rick. It’s best to wait until March. In order for the grass to absorb the nutrients stored in the fertlizer, the turf has to be actively growing. Right now, it’s dormant and the nutrients would likely leach out of the soil with the rain and melting snow and not be available to the turf. Better to wait until spring when the grass can really benefit from the application.