Question
I have a dogwood shrub that did wonderfully well in the spring and is now slowly dying. I do deep watering once every two weeks and that seems to help but not enough. Any recommendations? It gets full sun most of the day.
Answer(s)
More established trees and shrubs have better developed root systems, that can survive drought situations, but still need water during hot summers. The water needs of plants are always dependent on soil type. If it is sandy, or drains quickly, you’ll need to water more often. If your soil has a lot of clay, it may need some organic matter to improve soil drainage. I think basically you’ll need to water more often.
You didn’t specify what type of dogwood you have. There are a few dogwood shrubs. If it is a redosier dogwood (Cornus sericea) or Tartarian dogwood (Cornus alba) both quite adaptable to Utah but prefers moist soil. The need for moisture is also dependent on how long this plant has been established in the landscape. Newly planted trees and shrubs may need water every 1-3 days when first planted, since the root volume is small, and the surface area of the root system is not sufficient to deal with the amount of water transpired (evaporating) from the leaves, especially in hot weather.
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