Plant of the Month

Cornus kousa (Chinese dogwood)

Tiny green flowers in June are surrounded by large, tapered, creamy white, flower bracts, fading to red-pink. This fully hardy broadly conical Chinese dogwood is renowned for its dark green leaves that turn crimson-purple in autumn. It is an excellent specimen tree in full sun to part shade for a small garden or woodland edge growing to 7m. The leaf colour is best in fertile, well-drained, neutral to acid soil. On mature plants the flowers are followed by strawberry-like fleshy fruit. Requires minimal pruning.

In early-spring apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted compost or manure around the base of the plant.

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