Tough year for local dogwoods

it's been a good year here...

David Weaver

.in the spring, I went through the neighborhood and there are probably about 75 dogwoods planted, with some added this year as relatively mature trees (must've been costly).

When asking why dogwood was so expensive in turning blanks, I learned that there's a blight wiping out dogwoods where they're dense in rural areas (farm fencerows, etc).

Re: it's been a good year here...

Hank Knight

The blight is the anthracnose fungus. It is decimating the dogwoods in the Southeast and especially in the Appalachians. If you get off the highway into the forests, it's hard to find a dogwood that is not infected. We've lost 3 large dogwoods on our yard to the fungus. Interestingly, the fungus stains the heartwood with broad blood-red streaks. I turned a couple of mallets from one of the trees from my yard and the red stain was pretty dramatic, but it eventually faded to a dull brown.

Re: it's been a good year here...

Larry Barrett

We have lost dogwoods here in central Maryland. And almost no blossoms on the ones that survived this spring. I don't recall ever seeing no blossoms on dogwoods.

The ones that are affected are the native variety. Many folks have planted a Korean variety that seems immune to the fungus.

Re: it's been a good year here...

David Weaver

I just looked it up. I guess it's not here yet, but I won't say that too loudly as this is appalachia. You can wrap it in suburbs and strip malls, but it's still appalachia.

Our dogwoods are fairly far apart.

(I just looked in our local papers and see an article about it, but they suggest that most of the time, the trees recover here - not sure why. Sycamore and london plane tree are mentioned, also. There are a lot of sycamore trees here, some very large).

Re: Tough year for local dogwoods

Mike Rubes

Hi Joe,

Sorry to hear about the dogwoods coming down. Still, nice that you can get some of the wood. Dogwood is one of my favorite woods to turn. I was just able to get a small piece myself in the last few weeks.

Enjoy the wood,

Mike

Re: Tough year for local dogwoods

John K Jordan

Of the hundreds of dogwoods on the farm here there are three that are exceptional size. I fantasized about cutting one for the wood but couldn't make myself do it. Then just today we noticed one that was fine in the fall is now dead. I'll probably cut it tomorrow. (The other two look fine, at least for now)

About 15 years ago I got the wood from one a neighbor cut in his yard - about the size of my dead dogwood, over 12" diameter. I'm still using wood from that tree.

(It's good and dry now. )

JKJ