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Dogwood trees vs Twig Dogwood? (& hostas)
I read the post below about hostas & dogwoods, and ended up rabbit-trailing all over, only to end up more confused. I'd love clarification from someone who knows.
I know there are dogwood trees (below post), and I think they're more common in the south than here in CO (zone 5+). The nurseries here carry some varieties of red or yellow twig dogwood, which is a native shrub. (Cornus sericea or Cornus stolonifera I think) It gets 8-10' tall at maturity, according to the extension office.
I had planned to put perennials at the bottom in front of these, but they will most likely need to be divided eventually. Do you have to be careful of the root structures of these too? Has anyone done this?
This is basically the type I want (the red variety, anyway)
Re: Dogwood trees vs Twig Dogwood? (& hostas)
Ok. While digging does cause roots to be cut, taking up perennials every few years is very unlikely to cause trees and shrubs nearby to die. Unless you dig with a backhoe or something. You can certainly cut some roots without it making much difference to your trees and shrubs. They can spare a few and recover. It's just not GOOD for the tree (shrub) because every cut is a potential entry point for disease to enter the vascular system of the tree (shrub). Therefore, the more you dig, the more the odds that the plant whose roots are being severed repeatedly will become infected with some pathogen. Of course, when roots are severed, it impairs the plants ability to absorb water, which is a big deal in young plants that have less root mass to fall back on.
Having said that, I've got some perennials in my garden that are 10 years old and have never been divided. I just hate doing it. So, I find other things to do, like pulling weeds, watering, and pruning.
There are dogwood trees, and redtwig dogwoods, which are are a shrub, (like the one you see here). The trees grow just ok but not great in CO, while the shrubs are much more common and more successful. The branching structure of these won't get very high off the ground (the picture is pretty close to typical), so you can plant in front of them but not really directly under them. They also have a yellow-twig variety. I am not super familiar with the root structure, but I would treat it like any shrub, and dig carefully, as part of the roots won't be too deep.
We use these a lot in mass plantings for large landscape projects, and they work well in areas near sod, so aren't considered xeric (low water).
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NB - I also am bad at dividing perennials (evidenced by the lily swarm in the back yard) and planned on planting some hostas & bulbs or something pretty spaced out, so it would look better in a couple years when they fill in. In the meantime, I'd seed annuals. It sounds like if I were to divide the bulbs in, say 5 years, the shrub would be better able to handle it.
ColoradoGirl06 - I have these planned to go in my front yard, a few feet off the property line on the side, both red & yellow twig. There will be sod in the middle of the yard, just a few feet from these, but I planned for most of the water (once established) to be run-off since there is a slight downhill slope. I would gladly take suggestions for pretty xeric plants to go in my super-sun-drenched, south-facing, no-shade area near the street though.
Bonus points for interest in the winter.
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Hmmm, I think they could handle the run-off fine, is it pretty wet when it does run off? Some xeric stuff might not do well at the bottom of a slope that's getting a lot of water in the summer.
Additional ideas for super sunny/dry areas - rabbitbrush - good winter interest, though it is super native looking and may actually get crazy if it's happy, not as "refined" as the dogwood. I also like russian sage (perovoskia species (spelling?), not in the sage family) and blue mist spirea (not in the spirea family, go figure!), and some of the actual spirea species also do well here and have some decent winter interest. I also really like a lot of the ornamental grasses (the 2-4' height ones) for winter interest. Many people trim them in the fall, but unless we get a heavy snow, they will hold their shape most of the winter and provide some vertical.
I highly recommend the Xeric Landscape book by Denver Water for some good pictures of the 4-seasons of many xeric plants. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions, want to send me pictures of the area you are talking about, etc. There are more but my brain is feeling sluggish tonight.
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I might take you up on that.
I went to Echters for ideas before, and the russian sage was on my 'potential' list. I hadn't heard of the spirea - I'll check that out.
As far as the slope, it's not severe. About 4" over 10 feet if I remember correctly. (I'd have to find my drawings to be sure)
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