Preparation for Dogwoods??

Bleating Lamb

Have a long steep bank at back of garden which has gravelly soil,want to plant it with something that will spread on it and add colour.Have settled on dogwood as best affordable option after talking to two different people in the trade,they said its time enough to plant dogwood in Oct/Nov...firstly am going to put down the black membrane stuff to stop weed growth,it's covered in grass and weeds at mo.
One of two men said to spray off and kill what's there now with roundup to leave a nice clean area for laying membrane on in say a months time,the other man said to just strim the grass/weeds tight to ground and then lay the membrane,which would people think is better approach??
I think that killing the current growth on it with Roundup would leave it easier to put down black membrane in say mid August?

Really appreciate any opinions?,thanks.

coin

Sounds very similar to my situation last year. I put in few hundred red dogwood last October, again a steep bank with gravelly soil.

I had a lot of weeds to contend with as well. In the end I didn't bother with any weed barrier or membrane. The weather took care of the weeds for me and this year I've just spot sprayed once to keep them in check. The dogwood is growing very well.

I decided to put a wind break of willow on the north and west side of them for extra wind protection close to the house.

Bleating Lamb

coin wrote: »

Sounds very similar to my situation last year. I put in few hundred red dogwood last October, again a steep bank with gravelly soil.

I had a lot of weeds to contend with as well. In the end I didn't bother with any weed barrier or membrane. The weather took care of the weeds for me and this year I've just spot sprayed once to keep them in check. The dogwood is growing very well.

I decided to put a wind break of willow on the north and west side of them for extra wind protection close to the house.

Thanks v much for reply,did you find it difficult to plant the dogwoods in the gravelly soil.....is there a technique involved?....and was it tricky to spot spray the weeds this year without damaging the dogwoods?....it was suggested to me to put down the black membrane stuff to stop anything weedy growing apart from the dogwoods where holes would be made for them when planting each one,if you know what I mean.

Geomy

Dogwoods can get very dirty and maintenance can be a nuisance.
Have you considered cotoneaster ?

coin

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Thanks v much for reply,did you find it difficult to plant the dogwoods in the gravelly soil.....is there a technique involved?....and was it tricky to spot spray the weeds this year without damaging the dogwoods?....it was suggested to me to put down the black membrane stuff to stop anything weedy growing apart from the dogwoods where holes would be made for them when planting each one,if you know what I mean.

Technique was very basic. Just used a spade to break into the soil , dropped in the whip and then tamped it home nice and tight. The soil should be damp in October I imagine so you shouldn't have much hassle.

As for spot spraying it was similarly very straight forward, I took the cheap option and cut a 2 litre soft drink bottle, cut it in half and taped it to the end of the lance on the knapsack and was just careful!

Yeah you could use membrane, I personally didn't bother. Thought I might have issues keeping it down flat on the steep bank. Also i was putting gravel on the bank and the membrane wasn't great for keeping the gravel in place.

vinnie13

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Thanks v much for reply,did you find it difficult to plant the dogwoods in the gravelly soil.....is there a technique involved?....and was it tricky to spot spray the weeds this year without damaging the dogwoods?....it was suggested to me to put down the black membrane stuff to stop anything weedy growing apart from the dogwoods where holes would be made for them when planting each one,if you know what I mean.

Get a normal spade and cut it so it's about 4/5" wide,takes the hassle of trying to drive the whole spade down.
I would just spray it off with round up now and again two or 3weeks before planting..
I wouldn't bother with the membrane seems a waste of money considering in a few years they will naturally kill off weeds and it's expensive
If planted this side of xmass you could just spray the weeds next summer if desired.try NAD in dublin fir gallop instead of round up it's half the price plus they have stuff to add in with the gallop to seal the ground and stop the weeds growing

Bleating Lamb

Geomy wrote: »

Dogwoods can get very dirty and maintenance can be a nuisance.
Have you considered cotoneaster ?

How do you mean they can get dirty?...one of the men I was talking to said you just need to cut back the dogwood well once a year in around April\May to control it....thanks for reply.

Bleating Lamb

vinnie13 wrote: »

Get a normal spade and cut it so it's about 4/5" wide,takes the hassle of trying to drive the whole spade down.
I would just spray it off with round up now and again two or 3weeks before planting..
I wouldn't bother with the membrane seems a waste of money considering in a few years they will naturally kill off weeds and it's expensive

If planted this side of xmass you could just spray the weeds next summer if desired.try NAD in dublin fir gallop instead of round up it's half the price plus they have stuff to add in with the gallop to seal the ground and stop the weeds growing

Thanks for reply,I'm from Leitrim myself,so just wondering is NAD a garden shop or online place?,also bit worried if I spray with Roundup or Gallop would it 'poison' the ground so the Dogwood might struggle to grow in October.

Bleating Lamb

Thanks for replies,have taken bits of everyones views onboard. I sprayed and killed off the existing weeds/grass with Roundup and it has brown dirty tangly grass on it now,am going to strim that off to expose the virgin soil.
Will gather up the dead grass before laying Mapex membrane.Have decided to use the membrane as bank slopes are steep and longterm it will negate the need to weed between whatever is planted ....be it Dogwood and other shrubs.
Just like peoples thoughts on two questions....1.- would it be an idea to give the exposed soil another quick spray with Roundup immediately before putting the membrane down? 2.-What varieties,names of Dogwood would people recommend using to have a nice mix of colour for winter time in years to come? I intend on maintaining it well and cutting back in April each year to keep it healthy.
We are talking about a sizeable area,two steep banks with a flat area in betwwen both banks. Each bank would have an area of approx 60 m across by 4 m in height.
Plan is to put in the selected Dogwoods in early November.

baaba maal

My understanding is that Roundup is a foliar systemic herbicide-meaning that it is only absorbed through the leaves (foliage) and into the plant , NOT by being absorbed through the ground and into the roots. It works best when the plants are actively growing, so even spraying plants now (as opposed to the active growing season) would be a waste really.
I'm not sure you will need to cut back dogwood every year but I'll defer to actual gardeners on that......

Bleating Lamb

baaba maal wrote: »

My understanding is that Roundup is a foliar systemic herbicide-meaning that it is only absorbed through the leaves (foliage) and into the plant , NOT by being absorbed through the ground and into the roots. It works best when the plants are actively growing, so even spraying plants now (as opposed to the active growing season) would be a waste really.
I'm not sure you will need to cut back dogwood every year but I'll defer to actual gardeners on that......

Thanks....that makes a lot of sense re why not to bother respraying with Roundup.

Bleating Lamb

Anyone like to recommend a nice mix of Dogwoods that go well together?...The banks would be gravelly in nature.Although one has nice topsoil on it.

Bleating Lamb

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Anyone like to recommend a nice mix of Dogwoods that go well together?...The banks would be gravelly in nature.Although one has nice topsoil on it.

Just a quick bump....anyone with Dogwoods in their garden feel free to recommend colours/species that worked well for you,measured the banks at weekend,from top to bottom the gravelly one is 6 metres in height,the lower one is 3 metres in height and has topsoil on it.
thanks.

Whacker paddy

I planted about 40 dogwood whips October 2012 and they are growing really well. Used a mixture of the red and yellow stemmed ones . Look well together but the red seems to grow faster. Very nice colours on them this time of year.

Bleating Lamb

Whacker paddy wrote: »

I planted about 40 dogwood whips October 2012 and they are growing really well. Used a mixture of the red and yellow stemmed ones . Look well together but the red seems to grow faster. Very nice colours on them this time of year.

Thanks....did you just mix them randomly through each other when planting them or do a kind of pattern incorporating the red and yellow?
thanks.

keltoms05

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

1.- would it be an idea to give the exposed soil another quick spray with Roundup immediately before putting the membrane down?

Pointless really, the membrane will stop any weeds coming up provided its not a cheap weed membrane.If its cheap it will tear easily and weeds will come up through it, best one to get would be the landscaper grade mipex.

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

2.-What varieties,names of Dogwood would people recommend using to have a nice mix of colour for winter time in years to come?

Cornus alba 'Sibirica' has a nice red bright red shoots and Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea' has a bright yellow/green shoots. Lovely when planted together IMHO.

Hope this helps

Whacker paddy

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Thanks....did you just mix them randomly through each other when planting them or do a kind of pattern incorporating the red and yellow?
thanks.

Did a line of red and then on the next line used yellow with every fourth one red. I also planted a few alder trees with them . Colours very nice now.

Bleating Lamb

Talked to a respected gardener who looked at my two lovely banks and he reckoned that Dogwood would really struggle on the upper very gravelly one as it needs 'Nutrients to grow'...And to be fair theres damn all there so am thinking of dogwood on middle and lower area now.Like sound of the red and yellows suggested...thanks for tips.He suggested going for low cover type berried plants for top area...their names escapes me now:)!
He reckoned Mapex would be a waste of funds so will put more into choice of dogwoods.
Anyone like to suggest fast growing options for a steep gravelly nutrient low bank?
Preferably with a bit of colour at some time of year.
Its about 6m from top to bottom in height and 40m long.

Qwerty?

I've used some black stemmed dogwood, and some variegated leafed ones. Bought them from futureforests a few years back. They had lots of different varieties.