Golden Variegated Dogwood - Cornus alba Spaethii
All dogwoods are easy to keep looking great and Cornus alba Spaethii adds to their summer foliage spectrum with the golden-yellow margins of its variegated leaves. Cornus alba Spaethii is very vigorous and its red bark has fantastic ornamental value in winter time, especially when it is planted in big clumps, either by itself or with other dogwood varieties. It bears little white flowers in May that become pale bluey-white fruit, however, these are not very showy and it is really the crimson bark that most gardeners are after. Dogwoods will grow just about anywhere and are prized for their love of boggy ground where many other plants would simply drown.
Caring for Cornus alba Spaethii
If you are planting Cornus alba Spaethii as a specimen for its beautiful bark, all you need to do is coppice - hard prune it once a year, starting in its second year of growth after you plant it. Simply use a nice clean pair of secateurs to snip every stem down to about 8cms, 3 inches, from the ground, varying the height of each cut if you want a rugged, natural look. Once you've finished, give it a head start on its next season's growth by applying a layer of mulch around it, taking care not to let the mulch touch the stems.
Hedges: Coppice them as described above, right after planting. Trim them normally with the rest of the hedge after that.
Planting Cornus alba Spaethii
The wonderful thing about dogwoods is that, so long as they have decent light, you can really plant them anywhereboggy or dry areas, rich or poor soil, chalky or acidic - they do prefer acidic but tolerate chalk, it doesn't seem to matter. What all dogwoods like is moisture, so if your soil is dry, poor and chalky - alkaline, you can help them along by improving the soil with well rotted compost and manure before planting. If you want a real show, your dogwood will reward a springtime application of quick release fertiliser that increases the acidity of the soil each year, followed with a good mulch.
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