Cornus alba
Tatarian dogwood
Common names: White dogwood, Ornamental dogwood
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Pruning
- Feb–Mar
- Flowering
- May–Jun
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Cornus alba, the Tatarian dogwood, is a hardy shrub best known for its bright red winter bark. In May and June it produces inconspicuous, cream‑white flower spikes, and in autumn it bears bluish‑white berries that attract birds. The berries are inedible and mildly toxic to humans, so caution is advised, especially around children. The shrub’s true winter display occurs when the leaves fall: young shoots turn coral‑red, providing a striking color contrast in the garden. Cultivars such as ‘Sibirica’ and ‘Elegantissima’ differ mainly in bark color and leaf markings but share the same low‑maintenance character.
Care instructions
Prune the ornamental dogwood in early spring, between late February and mid‑March (week 8 to 11), cutting back heavily. Only young shoots show the vivid red bark, so a regular partial prune of older, low‑lying branches every two to three years is beneficial. The plant tolerates almost any garden soil, thriving best on fresh to moist substrates and can handle occasional waterlogging. Water newly planted specimens regularly during the first year; thereafter, watering is only needed during extended dry spells. Adding compost in spring encourages especially bright shoots the following winter.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringMay–Jun
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, moist, nutrient-rich, loamy
The Tatarian dogwood is surprisingly undemanding about soil and tolerates both slightly acidic and lime-rich sites. It is happiest on fresh to moist, nutrient-rich loam, as you often find at the edges of water. Thanks to its origins in river floodplains, it copes well with waterlogging, but permanent drought it does not like at all.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar, May
A dressing of mature compost in early spring is usually enough to support the new growth. If you like, also mulch with leaf compost or well-rotted manure, which keeps the soil moist at the same time. You can usually do without extra feeding in summer; the shrub grows quite vigorously without it.
Pruning
So that the bark keeps its strong colour, it is best to cut the oldest shoots out close to the ground every two to three years; young wood colours more intensely. The best time for this is late winter, before growth begins. The shrub tolerates a radical cut back to a hand's breadth above the ground without trouble and shoots vigorously again in spring.
Overwintering
The Tatarian dogwood is fully hardy and needs no protection at all in our latitudes. The strikingly coral-red stems show their most beautiful side in winter, which makes it an ideal shrub for the winter garden. Winter protection is not necessary even in harsh locations.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
- From seed
Propagation is most reliable from hardwood cuttings, which you cut from one-year-old shoots in late autumn or early spring and insert straight into the open ground. Layering also works well: nick a shoot close to the ground and cover it with soil until it forms roots of its own. Sowing is possible but lengthier, as the seeds need a cold phase to germinate. For quick results in your own garden, cuttings are clearly the most practical choice.
For your garden
Grow Tatarian dogwood yourself
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