The following was received via email: I have a white dogwood tree that has not flowered for three years - it has flourishing green leaves but no buds. Should I do something now to force it to bloom in the Spring or Summer - I just want to see the white flowers. I live on Cape Cod, MA & the white dogwoods are beautiful- Thanks, Shirley
Forcing bloom on Dogwood I have heard that "Ringing" the bark would encourage bloom. "Ringing" means taking a knife and cutting into the tissue 360 degrees around a branch. How deep? I don't know, but probably into the cambium, at least.
aka girdling. this is to help bloom ? if you cut into the cambium or the bark, you are causing a wound in your tree that is going to hopefully attempt to seal and close off the damaged area. I can't see where this is a good thing for the plant. I am not arguing its effectiveness, it may force a plant to bloom, but I don't think it is a very good idea for the tree in the long term. Look at the reasons it may not be blooming. are the buds freezing off? that is a common problem where late frosts occur. is the plant stressed for other reasons? excess soil moisture, lack of nutrients, disease? blight? improper pruning (timing may be an issue as buds generally set in fall for next years flowers)?
I realize this is way late a response for this thread but it may help with some of the other posts in other threads. Girdling can indeed induce flower production but no one talks about what happens to the limb either the next year or the following year. I would not do it ever- just too risky to create an open wound that probably will not close fast enough and heal before the onset of one or more fungus diseases just waiting for the opportunity to infect the tree. Borers also might sense the golden opportunity as the tree has become weakened by us. Our Cornus florida Dogwoods here bloomed in late March and are now starting to produce buds for next years flowering. We've had a strange weather pattern the last three years, going on the fourth. We've had a few ups and downs in temps such as being 100 degrees for a few days and then in the 80's for the next few days. Oddly enough the dramatic temperature reductions is what Dogwoods like to set flower buds. When people on the East Coast are concerned about so few and in some cases no flower bud set it tells me that aside from there not being much of a temperature fluctuation there has not been a lot of sunlight either. Cooling of temps and lots of sun will help me with my Cornus florida, Cornus nuttallii and my Cornus kousa in the mountains. Another thing that people are not fully aware of is that even though we buy a Cornus florida from a nursery with lots of bud set, it may take up to 5 years or more for us to see the same flower bud set again once the plants are in the ground. Our nursery people do not know the plants well enough to tell their customers that relatively unknown fact. Cornus floridas like having their roots compacted in a container, either by being root bound or grown in a heavy clay root ball to bloom profusely while at a nursery. If people can ever buy Cornus floridas that are not balled and burlap plants they would see much healthier plants for them in the long run but as the roots are entering their new home soil the plant is putting out new growth and with lots of new growth there will not be a dramatic setting of flower buds when the plants are in the ground. Most Dogwoods have to settle into their new homes for a few years before they will adapt to the new growing conditions for that tree. Most all of us are not able to buy locally grown Dogwoods which means that our plants are coming in from somewhere else and that somewhere else is usually Oregon. It takes time for a Cornus florida that is grown in Oregon to adapt to New Jersey and California for example. What does not help is the weather and the climatic conditions not playing along with our plants to help aid the attempts to produce flower buds. In most cases it is not the trees fault why the flower buds have not set it is more due to environmental factors. As a rule here on the Valley floor I will fertilize my Cornus floridas with a Camellia-Rhododendron food, acid based fertilizer, right after they bloom. I can usually expect to see flower buds start to form about 2-3 months later. In colder climates I would use a 0-10-10 fertilizer in early to mid-Summer to help induce flower bud formation and it does work for many of us in the foothill and mountainous regions here. I cannot speak for the East Coast as I have not grown Dogwoods there. It is the timing, not how much, of knowing when to apply the fertilizer that is most important to me. Give your plants due time to grow and develop and once they have adapted to your area they will begin to set flower buds. I have a pink bordered, white flowered Cornus kousa that I have at my cabin that only produced 1-2 flowers for over 8 years in the ground. It was a 12 year old tree when I planted it and since then it has bloomed its head off ever since. Just be patient with your plants and hopefully you will get better weather for flower bud initiation. Jim
Dogwoods are too choice and delicate to girdle intentionally. I also think it's probably the weather.
Root pruning can be used to force a dogwood to bloom. Look up Master Gardener Manual: Pruning techniques (online).