Red Twig Dogwood: Plant Care & Growing Guide

Red twig dogwood will brighten your winter landscaping with its blazing red branches. The shrubs also provide four-season interest with beautiful spring blossoms, variegated leaves during summer, and berries from summer to fall.

Flat clusters of small white flowers are followed by bunches of white berries tinted with hints of blue and green. Red twig dogwood is deer resistant but a great shrub to feed birds and small animals thanks to its berries. 

The fall color of the foliage picks up hints of rose or gold, but the leaves fall from this deciduous shrub to expose its prized stems. The attractive red bark makes this shrub one of the most beautiful winter landscaping plants.

While many dogwoods are rather slow-growing plants, red twig dogwoods are fast-growing shrubs. You can expect the plants to add at least 2 feet of growth each year.

Red Twig Dogwood Care

Red twig dogwoods have good tolerance for most soil and light conditions, and they're one of the few shrubs that thrive in boggy, woodland conditions. Otherwise, here's the best way to care for red twig dogwood:

• Plant where these shrubs can be easily viewed, such as against a wall that receives ample sunlight from the south or west in winter or on steep banks to control erosion.
• Remove a few of the oldest stems each year to keep the best color on the new stems.
• Trim the roots around the base of the plant with a spade to keep shrubs from spreading too much.
• Cut the plants to the ground periodically to rejuvenate the plant and control its growth.

Planting

Dogwood shrubs are normally planted as nursery-grown container plants or ball-and-burlap specimens in the fall or the early spring. Choose a site with full sun or dappled sun and make sure the soil is well draining. The color of the branches is typically more vivid red when grown in full sun. Dig a hole for an individual plant that is two times as wide and slightly deeper than the root ball.

Red twig dogwood should be planted 5 to 10 feet apart, depending on the variety. Some varieties of red twig dogwood grow smaller and can be planted closer together or as individual plants in a garden bed for fall and winter color. 

Light

Red twig dogwoods will tolerate partial shade, but the signature red bark will be brightest if they are planted in full sun.

Soil

Red twig dogwood bushes are considered good for areas with consistently moist soil (for example, wet spots where homeowners may wish to establish woodland gardens). Work humus into the soil for nutrients. They prefer somewhat acidic soil (pH 5.5 to 6.6).

Water

These plants prefer moist areas, thriving in low spots, or along streams or ponds. If there is not a lot of rain, water new plants weekly for the first few months so the soil is constantly moist. Mature plants only need watering during dry spells when there is no rain for more than a week.

Temperature and Humidity

This shrub has adapted to a wide range of temperatures. It does not do well in extremely hot and humid climates where it can be vulnerable to diseases such as canker.

Fertilizer

This plant has low fertilizing needs. If you do fertilize, do so in the early spring, side-dressing it with compost. When it has started to leaf out, you can feed it fish emulsion, although it will do fine without any additional feeding.

Types of Red Twig Dogwoods

Several types of dogwoods have cultivars with the "red twig" label as part of the common name and there are many cultivars within each. Depending on the variety, these shrubs bear either dark green or variegated leaves (greenish-gray with a white edge). Different types of dogwood shrubs with red bark can be found around the globe in the Northern Hemisphere. All are classified under the genus Cornus:

• Tatarian dogwoods (Cornus alba) are native to Asia and more variegated than the other types. Popular varieties include 'Argenteo-marginata' and Red Gnome, both compact with red stems, and 'Bud's Yellow', a yellow twig dogwood with more yellow winter stems.
• Red osier dogwoods (Cornus sericea) are native to North America. Popular varieties include 'Arctic Fire®', ‘Isanti’, ‘Cardinal’, and ‘Baileyi’. Red osier dogwoods are best for erosion control because it spreads by suckering to form a colony over time. The root system of such a colony can be very effective at holding back the soil on a hillside.
• Bloodtwig dogwoods (Cornus sanguinea) are native to Europe and a bit more leggy than the others. ‘Midwinter Fire’ is the most popular cultivar because its stems have an ombre effect with gradations of golden orange to coral red.

The similarities between these species and their common names have led to much confusion, even in the nursery trade. If you have your heart set on a particular cultivar, be sure to make your purchase from an establishment that you trust.

Pruning

The brightness of this bush's red twigs tends to fade over time from early spring to summer, and there is not much that you can do about that. For maximal color, prune out a third of the older branches every two to three years or so (or even annually, as long as you do not mind having a plant of a smaller size). Prune red twig dogwoods in late winter or early spring before the plant begins actively growing again to promote new growth.

Since the younger branches bear the brightest color, that is precisely the growth that you want to encourage. If the bush is overgrown, you can cut it back almost to the ground. It will return within a year with young red stems.

Propagating Red Twig Dogwoods

If you want to propagate red twig dogwoods, take hardwood cuttings in late fall.

1. Cut a length of stem that is as thick as a pencil.
2. Cut the stem piece into 6- to 9-inch sections with a bud near either end of each cutting.
3. Take off side branches (including all leaves) and dip each segment in rooting hormone.
4. Plant the cutting in pots and place in a sheltered area, or in a cold frame that is closed for the winter.
5. In spring, you can open the cold frame or move the pots back into the open to continue growing.
6. It can take up to a full year for the cutting to root. Once they are fully rooted, you can plant the saplings in your landscape.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Scale, leaf miners, and bagworms are common insect pests. Commercial pesticides can be used if the problem becomes serious, though insects rarely kill a shrub.

Dogwoods are susceptible to a variety of fungal problems, including leaf and twig blights, canker, and leaf spots. Fungal-diseased branches should be cut back to healthy wood; otherwise, the problem may spread to infect the entire shrub.

How to Get Red Twig Dogwood to Bloom

Bloom Months

The shrubs are known to bloom in the late spring and early summer. A new plant may not bloom until it has matured a bit.

What Do Red Twig Dogwood Flowers Look and Smell Like?

Though this plant is grown mostly for its winter interest, it does produce flat clusters of four-petaled white flowers that look along the lines of Queen Anne's lace but more dense. The flowers have a pleasing, sweet floral scent similar to that of honeysuckle.

How to Encourage More Blooms

Stem rejuvenation is key to this plant, but always prune after the shrub has bloomed. Do not prune before or during flowering or buds can be sheared off. Protect young buds by covering the plant with a tarp or other covering if there's a surprise cold snap in the early spring. Make sure to give the plant plenty of water for extra blooms, especially when there is not enough rainfall.

Common Problems With Red Twig Dogwood

This shrub is relatively maintenance-free. But if you're growing this plant for its striking winter stems, you will want to keep an eye out for these problems that can drain the color from your red twig dogwood.

No Red Color

If your red twig dogwood is not red, it could be that the shrub's stems are older and losing their vibrancy. Pruning, sometimes 2 feet from the ground, helps the shrub to produce young stems that will turn brilliant red. Stems are most brilliant in the winter and the color fades as the weather warms up.

Black Spots on Stems

The plant is likely suffering from stem blight which produces brownish-black patches on the stems. Prune out these problem stems using a sanitized cutting tool and continue to disinfect the tool between cuts.

Developing Suckers

Red twig dogwoods develop suckers, which are not useful most of the time unless you are using the plant to combat soil erosion. Otherwise, suckers sap the energy from your plant, resulting in less colorful stems. To control suckers, prune them out with a disinfected garden tool.