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How drastically can I prune a completely neglected dogwood?

Hi, Just moved house and the short tuft of Astro turf back garden ends with a boundary of tortured and dying silver birch (which I will sadly have to loose) and a completely neglected dogwood, which I’d love to resuscitate. I’ve googled and watched videos on how to prune, but none start from the mess that was this. I’m concerned about cutting all the newish wood out. I’ve started to prune ... removing dead branches and lunging limbs of bare old wood but I don’t know how far to go. Should I leave some coloured wood even though it’s a terrible shape? Will it need this to survive a drastic cut? The top is now budding (cut two weeks ago) but no sign of life below. I don’t want to be left with a bare woody base and a ‘snorkel’ of life at the top! 

Posts

  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    I'd be tempted to prune it really hard, like you would a rose, then feed it with BFB and mulch with compost.  They're very tough...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I think I would go for the "kill or cure" approach and chop the whole lot back. Otherwise I think it'll focus it's efforts on the growth at the top and not shoot from the cut-back stumps.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    1-2 foot from the ground.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • SueG1SueG1 Posts: 41
    I agree with all of the above, be ruthless, it'll be difficult to kill!
  • bird.nicbird.nic Posts: 5
    Thank you so much everyone. Never posted on anything before... this is great!
  • I didn't look up the nuances of pruning dogwood when I moved in 30 odd years ago, Ijust saw a large overgrown shrub. Cutting it to about a foot did it the world of good, still going strong and I've never fed it.
    Southampton 
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