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Yellow Twig Dogwood Shrub for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

  • Yellow Twig Dogwood Shrub
  • Yellow Twig Dogwood Shrub
  • Yellow Twig Dogwood Shrub
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Cornus sericea

There are not many plants that make viewers go "wow!" in the winter garden—but the Yellow Twig Dogwood, Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea,' is at the top of that list. It is a plant with four seasons of interest, culminating in a winter show of its vivid yellow branches, providing color and texture when little else is happening in the garden. But that's not all it offers: Spring brings attractive, ovate, emerald-green leaves and clusters of small white flowers that are pollinator magnets. When the flowers fall, they are replaced by white berries with a blue blush which stays on the tree through autumn and provides an essential food source for songbirds. Fall foliage is in shades of orange and red. Not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why you need this shrub:

  • Winner of an “Award of Garden Merit” from the Royal Horticultural Society.
  • Native to North America.
  • Drought-resistant but also thrives in wet or marshy soils.
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Plant Care

Sunlight

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The Yellow Twig Dogwood does best in partial to full sunlight, at least four hours of direct sunlight each day.

Watering

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Water your Yellow Twig Dogwood about once a week; more often when it is newly planted.

Fertilizing

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Fertilize in spring with a balanced, slow-release product, such as a 10-10-10 formula meant for landscape trees.

Planting and Care

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by Mary Van Keuren | Gardener (30+ Years Experience) – last update on October 20, 2022

Planting instructions

Site your Yellow Twig Dogwood in soil that drains well and receives at least four hours of sunlight a day. Unpot the shrub, and tease out any encircling roots, which can girdle the shrub and slowly kill it. Dig a hole that’s as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. Place the shrub in the hole, spreading out the roots. Holding it upright and steady, fill in around the roots with topsoil, tamping down as you go to eliminate air pockets. Water thoroughly. Apply a two to three-inch layer of organic mulch such as bark chips around the root zone to conserve moisture and hinder weed growth but keep it from touching the trunk to avoid problems with rot.

Watering and nutrients

Your Yellow Twig Dogwood needs about an inch of water a week, either from supplemental watering or rain. In very hot or dry weather, you may want to give it a drink several times a week. Taper off watering when the growing season is finished. Fertilize your dogwood in spring with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer designed for landscape trees and shrubs, such as a 10-10-10 formula.

Pollination

Dogwood shrubs and trees are monoecious, meaning that a single shrub will have both male and female flowers and thus can pollinate itself. The Yellow Twig Dogwood is very attractive to pollinating insects and pollinated flowers yield blueish-white berries that are a good food source for birds and small mammals in the fall and winter months.

Pruning

Monitor your Yellow Twig Dogwood for dead, diseased or damaged limbs and prune these out whenever you see them. You’ll get the best winter stem color by cutting back a portion of the stems each spring to the ground, allowing new growth to take its place. You can cut out about one-fourth to one-third of the old growth at a time without harming the shrub.

Pests and diseases

The Yellow Twig Dogwood is resistant to most pests and diseases. The most common pest seen on these shrubs is the dogwood sawfly, which may eat the leaves. If you catch them early enough, they can be removed by hand at the larval stage. You’re more likely to see diseases such as canker and fungal growths at the southern end of this shrub’s range—in USDA zone seven and above. Keep the area around the bush free of leaf litter and debris and, when planting multiples, be sure to allow enough room for air circulation between them.

Achieving maximum results

Knowing how to best use your Yellow Twig Dogwood in your landscape or garden is one way to achieve maximum results. They are good choices to plant on a stream bank or the shore of a pond because they can handle wet conditions and their wide-ranging roots help control erosion. They are also excellent specimen plants or bedding plants. Consider placing them in a bed alternating with Red Twig Dogwood for a spectacular winter display. They work well in Asian-inspired gardens and are at home in cottage or rustic gardens as well. They are good companion plants to flowering shrubs such as Spilled Wine Weigela and when placed behind grasses that provide winter interest, such as Pink Muhly Grass.

FAQs

How big does the Yellow Twig Dogwood get?

This attractive dogwood shrub reaches a mature height of six to eight feet, with a width of five to six feet. You can control the height with careful pruning, and your shrub will actually benefit from the regular cutting back of some stems.

Where can I grow the Yellow Twig Dogwood?

The Yellow Twig Dogwood is hardy in USDA hardiness zones three through seven, and this tough cultivar can handle temperatures down to -30 degrees Fahrenheit. It should grow well throughout the northern states and in the southern states as far south as northern Texas and Alabama.

Can I grow the Yellow Twig Dogwood in a container?

Sure! You'll want to choose a container that is about twice the size of the root ball with good drainage holes in the bottom. Plant as per our directions above and note that you may have to water your pot-grown dogwood more than you would one that is grown in the soil.

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Mature height
6-8 ft.
Mature width
5-6 ft.
Sunlight requirement
Full-Partial
Growth rate
Moderate
Botanical name
Cornus sericea
Shipping exclusions
AZ
Grows Well In Zones
3-7
map
Growing Zones: 3-7 i Growing zones help determine if a particular plant is likely to grow well in a location. It identifies the average annual minimum winter temperatures across the U.S. provided as a map by the USDA.
(hardy down to -10°F)

Yellow Twig Dogwood Shrub

Cornus sericea
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