Pruning - use good timing.

Above is a photo of Coral Bark Willow, pruned waaaaay back. This is a shrubby willow and responds to hard pruning with lots of nice straight stems for the upcoming season. Any of your dogwood shrubs can be pruned in the same manner. Hard pruning like this, stimulates new shoots, which thicken up the plant from the base. Then, when the new growth is 18" or so, you can pinch the tip out, and 1 stem will become two, and when those 2 new braches become 1 foot longer, you can pinch the tip again. This will produce mulitple branches for thicker shrubs. It is not necessary to prune as hard as I do, but I need the long stems for floral sales. Good timing, does it matter? Yes. Prune now, or certainly before the end of March. Can also be done in late fall. In the spring, when it's warm already,the plants buds are already swelling. If you prune then, a lot of the plants energy was just wasted bringing those buds back to life, only to be cut-off. We will be covering pruning in more details at my Landscape Classes April 7 & 14......have you signed up yet? Click on link at right for more info.