Never spray willy nilly. Always find out what the right product is and use that, following the label.

DOGWOODS (Timber Press) says Cornus alba 'Bailhalo' is "moderately susceptible to summer leaf spot." Raking and disposal of fallen leaves in autumn recommended.

IME, shrub dogwoods tend to be most prone to leaf spot when they are under stress. This is why they almost always seem to display signs of this in a nursery setting. OTOH, once established in the garden under proper conditions, my experience is that leaf spot is seldom a serious issue, rarely enough of a concern to treat. None of my shrub dogwoods, including a mature plant of Ivory Halo, experiences any significant spotting.

I'd make sure cultural conditions are being met satisfactorily, practice good sanitation (as mentioned above) and allow the plants sufficient time to establish properly. I'd bet you'll see much less of this problem next season and spraying will not be a concern.

I would concur with what gardengal said about first year. My first year with I.H. was a mess. And the next years were fine. However, with age, (a/k/a not enough pruning), leaf spot and even tip blight occurred heavily with damp years.

So, this year I did a rejuvenation pruning to the ground and the foliage was great despite a very wet season. Now I will attempt to prune (thin out a third of the stems) on a regular basis to keep it less dense and provide more air circulation.

thanks to all of you for the great advice and comments

what difference does it make.. the leaves will fall off within 2 weeks here in MI ....

what you are seeing is nothing more than early dormancy of those leaves ... and the resultant attack by various stuff ...

i sure hope you didn't waste spray on it..

they grow like weeds in MI ... do NOT waste another minute worrying about it ....

ken

Any operation that removes overwintering inoculum will reduce subsequent incidence.

Leaf spot in Ivory Halo dogwood is cultural issue. Plants exposed to overhead watering are most likely to develop the problem. If you go to a nursery that grows this plant on dripper lines you are less likely to see black spot than if you go to a nursery that uses an overhead watering mechanism.

soooo bboy .. they can blow out/rake up/cleanup the fallen leaves.. and send them to the landfill in a plastic bag in a few weeks ....

i still dont see a need for chemicals at this time of year in MI ....

ken

Thanks again for your kind comments. What to do now is not the issue. The plants have been affected from the start, and are not as healthy as they should be. I am hoping that next season they will do better.

arent red twig dogwoods relatively cheap plants... unless you have some special named variety ????

if so .. why not just get rid of these ... think of it this way .. are you prepared to spray these things forever??? if you shorten your life by 5 minutes each time you expose yourself to the spray .. are they worth it????

why not destoy them.. and replace them with some hardy, disease free plants ...

good luck

ken

I was hoping I could use this old thread, rather than start a new one.

I have 4 Ivory Halo Cornus, 2 large and 2 small. All four are in pots due to a delayed landscaping project (they will get planted in the next week, the bed was just finished). None had leaf spot when I bought them (at least I didn't see any, and I inspect plants carefully). The two larger ones have it very bad. The two smaller ones have it as well, but not as bad.

Since it is only early August, I have quite a ways to go before the natural leaf drop. They have not been over-head watered, but until this week it's been rainy here.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what I should do? Should I spray them, and if so with what? Can I cut them back to aboout 12" now, or can that only be done in spring? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

My Red-Twigged Dogwoods always suffer from leaf spot and premature leaf drop in the late summer, but, as was mentioned before, ... all of mine are under trees.

I have also found that these shrubs will be the first and worst affected from lack of water for me (i.e. they'll wilt and drop their leaves).

OTOH, they'll get their red stem color early in the fall and it lasts until leaf out in the spring ... and their foliage is, typically, beautiful up through mid-summer.

That said, I wouldn't use this plant in a setting by itself ... or in a spot that has particular prominence.

It's a good shrub to use in a grouping, so that other plants can pick up the slack for the two months out of the year when the Dogwood is less attractive.

This is so frustrating. I purchased these because I saw one at a nearby garden center in their display garden. It was huge and very prominent in the bed. I didn't notice any spotting on it, and that was late July at the earliest.

"...under proper conditions, my experience is that leaf spot is seldom a serious issue..."

Does anyone know what the proper conditions are? Sounds like no overhead watering. I always water at the base, so that's not an issue (unless it rains, of course). Under trees is bad? Darn. These were going to be partially under the canopy of a few very tall birch trees?

I hate to spray, but since they are in pots it would be isolated. Anyone know what I spray with?

My variegated red twig dog woods leaves are very odd shaped and small on some branches, but not all. I am hoping someone out there knows what the problem is. It looks like a very slender, elongated version of the normal leaf.

Please post a picture of the bush and the leaf, and state where you are (state and zone) in a NEW THREAD.

Lisanti, thank you for your suggestion, I did so.

I'm getting mixed up a bit by the sudden plethora of red twig dogwood posts, but as I live in the very center of this species' home range, perhaps I can at least settle a few questions that seem to be on folk's minds: First and foremost, this is a wetland plant, always and everywhere in nature. It simply does not occur (on its own) in upland, dry settings. The most common scenes where it is found here in Wisconsin is on the very shore of lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands. It is a calciphile, not especially well-adapted to acid, sandy ground. As such, it is best in calcareous areas. It is one of the main plants identified with the natural plant community known as shrub-carr. This plant community is a type of wetland, found again in calcareous regions.

This plant has unusually good tolerance to high water table (of course) and will exhibit cankers and other issues when sited in a dry spot. This plant volunteers into new ground with exuberance. It is distinctly odd to be reading of so many people having trouble with this plant. It is about as problem-free as it gets around these parts. It can be cut down to the ground if one wishes, or renewal-pruned if that better serves the objectives of the property owner or manager. It can also simply be left alone forever, forming a tangled mass of stolons from which arise new plants, albeit they retain a connection to the mother plant.

They offer numerous benefits to wildlife-fruit, flower, cover, etc. and are a good choice for any purpose for which wildlife values are important.

I'll leave it there for now, but I must repeat, how on earth can everyone be having so much trouble with this ultra-easy plant?

+oM

since I seem to have started this string 9 years ago I likely should add a follow up. Wisconsittom has some good comments. I have found over the years that if I spray some kind of fungicide once a week for maybe three times early in the year just as the leaves are coming out, then follow it up once a month afterwards that the leaves stay nice and clean. That is what I have been doing anyway, it might be overkill. I also prune at least a third of old growth each spring to keep the plants ( i have a row of four of them) from getting too big. And two years ago I pruned it all to the ground and in the first year it grew maybe two feet tall. Looks nice, I have it in the front yard lined up with some Karl Forster grasses. and a few other things, and do not want the plants to get too big.

Haha....sometimes in the rush to answer or comment on posts, I neglect to check the start date! This must be a new record for thread longevity with OP still present!

+oM

hmm, it seem to be one of the unlucky ones. Have had nothing but problems with this shrub since it was planted years ago by a landscaper. Clearly they were not placed properly and due to soil acidity, competiion for water they look smaller than they did years ago. Havent grown more than a few inches where my leyland cypress behind them a bit have grown 15 ft. Im going to move them to richer soil, with more sun and less acidic trees around them. Then Ill ake them to the dump if it doesnt work out next year.

I made a comment back in July but failed to mention that though these Ivory Halo's were planted in 2006 in full sun in my front yard, in 2012 I had a sprinkler system installed. This little row of plants is right in front of one of the heads. So contrary to what HappyHoe had to say back in 2006 above, I wonder if a frequent bath might be helpful. I do have a problem of sorts with black spot in nearby maples. And I had not linked the two before, but I do not think the problem I had been having was black spot.

Thank you all for this helpful info! Rainy weather here in VT this summer (Mother Nature refuses to water at the roots) resulted in serous brown spotting and end-of- stem leaf death. However, on my dryer hill, two are stunted and dying generally. All are going to the spring-fed marshy garden to help my war on Bishop's Weed. Special thanks to those of you who mentioned natural habitat...the cornus will join the willows!

What sort of fungicide was it that helped?

VE, frankly, just about anything, baking soda or store bought fungicides. Key is to start early in the season, and then once a month include them when you spray other plants that tend to have issues, mums, peonies, and a bunch of other plants. I am in zone 5, how do i add that to my postings?

just noticed soft white spots on a few of my dogwood shrubs. I’d wondered if the cluster (5) getting too dense. this post confirms that I’ll need to thin them out next year -- thank you!!!

quick PSA... make sure trunks and stems are free from mulch — and that any nearby mulch is light and airy. soil/mulch gets compacted so easily... those roots need air!