I received an email a few years ago asking about how to rejuvenate a dogwood tree. I do believe, if you have a tree in your yard that looks like it might be struggling, in most cases go with what you think might be common sense, and fertilize your tree.

There could be other issues that may have a serious effect on the health of the tree. Dogwoods are amazing plants and I have designed many of these show-stopping plants into my designs.

These beautiful trees can live many years. The world’s largest dogwood is in Clinton, North Carolina, with a height of 35 feet and a 48 feet diameter canopy and 114 inches in circumference. It is in a small cemetery that dates back to 1864, when the cemetery opened. The researchers feel this huge dogwood was a mature tree then. I’m not sure this record tree in North Carolina had much special care except it did not have to fight nearby trees.

I have used a variety of dogwoods in my designs. There is the native flowering dogwood, kousa dogwood, red twig dogwood, pagoda dogwood, grey dogwood and many more. As you might guess, each dogwood would need a different care regimen to some degree. Pruning any plant at the right time will help solve some of the weakness you may see in a dogwood.

I have pruned dogwood trees in both late fall and winter. But dogwood pruning takes special care. I have done a number of different things in taking care of a variety of dogwoods. One effort I take is to dip my pruners in rubbing alcohol after each cut. Before we go very far in this discussion, we need to find out if this plant is under attack.

One of the most serious problems a dogwood can face is a disease that could potentially kill the tree in one year. Anthracnose, or old man’s disease, is a one that destroys the circulatory system in the tree. The disease starts in the soil and proceeds through the plant.

If your dogwood has the disease, you will notice twisted leaves or potentially flower blossoms with a brown spot in the middle of the tip of the bloom and weak looking. If your tree has this disease it is almost done, and I would not waste a whole lot of extra effort if the tree is over 50% of what it was and in decline. If you have any plant in a serious decline, there is a point of no return you can reach.

Otherwise, I would take a good look at the yard and see if fertilizer will help the tree. Because of the variety of soil-borne diseases, I reduce my aeration especially around the dogwood. I first would get a good compost and spread it around the bottom of the tree at least one-half inch deep all the way around the area, under the branches and another five feet beyond the canopy of branches.

Because you want to increase the soil activity around the tree, I would mix up a good compost tea of worm castings, leaf compost and beneficial fungi starter with molasses. I would then bubble the mix for 24 hours and just simply pour the mix over the roots of the tree. For the best effect repeat this process once every two weeks until the spring wood stops growing in July (start when you begin seeing leaves). Repeat this process again next year.

If you don’t see anything improving, you may have some serious problems. This method of fertilizing is a far more natural way to care for your tree as compared to using the salts that traditional landscapers will advise you.

Hope you enjoy your stroll through your garden this week and take time to smell the flowers. If you have any issues in your garden, drop an email to ericlarson546@yahoo.com and I shall help as best as I can. If you go to my website, ohiohealthyfoodcooperative.org, you will be able to interact with the blog links that are left there. Thank you for participating in our column.

Eric Larson of Jeromesville is a veteran landscaper and gardening enthusiast and a founding board member of the Ohio Chapter of Association of Professional Landscape Designers.