Kousa dogwood

About Kousa dogwood

Kousa dogwood is an East Asian cousin of flowering dogwood that blooms about a month later, after its leaves are out, with pointed white (sometimes pink) bracts. Raspberry-like fruit, red fall color and peeling, mottled bark give it interest all year, and it resists dogwood anthracnose and drought better than the native tree. Seedlings can come up thickly underneath it.

Zones 5-8 (NC State). Seedlings sprout freely under the tree and can become weedy (NC State).

When to plant

Timing is counted from your average last spring frost (and first fall frost). Sow & Tell works out the actual dates for your ZIP code.

Plant container or balled-and-burlapped trees. Container trees can go in any time the ground can be worked, but fall is the best season in the South because roots keep growing through mild weather (Clemson). Dig the hole no deeper than the root ball and at least twice as wide, keep the top roots level with the soil, and mulch 2-4 inches without touching the trunk. Its shallow roots make it hard to move once settled; it transplants most easily in early spring (NC State).

Soil

Well-drained, acidic soil; it handles some dryness but not waterlogged ground (NC State).

Test the soil first. Loosen a wide planting area and mix 10-20 percent compost into the native soil you dig out; don't use uncomposted bark, and don't dig deeper than the root ball (Clemson).

Feeding

• Spring to early summer, after the tree is established, and only if a soil test or pale leaves and weak twig growth show a need: slow-release nitrogen fertilizer with a ratio near 3-1-1 or 3-1-2 (3-0-1 or 3-0-2 if the soil test shows enough phosphorus). Spread it evenly from just outside the trunk flare to the dripline and water it in. Clemson cites 2-4 lb of slow-release nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft per year, split into a spring and a late-summer feeding; follow your soil test.
• Late summer to early fall, the second half of the year's split feeding (only if a soil test calls for it): slow-release nitrogen fertilizer, same as spring. Apply the rest of the year's amount over the root zone and water in. Don't feed a drought-stressed tree in summer (Clemson).

First-year watering matters far more than fertilizer: water daily for the first 1-2 weeks, every 2-3 days until week 12, then weekly, using about 1-1.5 gallons per inch of trunk diameter, until the tree is established, roughly 1.5 years per inch of trunk (UMN). Don't count on rain unless it was over an inch. It handles some dryness once established but not waterlogged soil (NC State). Too much fertilizer can burn roots and push soft growth that pests and cold injure (Clemson).

Harvest

Blooms in late spring, about a month after flowering dogwood. The pink-red fruits ripen from late summer into fall; dropped fruit can ferment and draw yellowjackets (NC State).

Varieties (12)

NC State documents these cultivars.

Pests to watch for

Scale insects, Leafhoppers, Sawflies (garden sawflies)

Diseases and problems

Powdery mildew, Bacterial leaf scorch, Canker, Botrytis blight, Leaf spot, Leaf scorch, Dogwood anthracnose

In the kitchen

The fruit is technically edible, but most people leave it for the birds (NC State).

Pets: Not on the ASPCA's toxic plant list for dogs.