Red Twig Dogwood—A Wisconsin Native
As a native plant that can withstand a wide variety of planting situations, red twig dogwood, with colorful winter bark, is also a feeding station for vireos, waxwings, thrushes, and other birds. It has few pests and diseases. It makes a stunning specimen plant, can serve as a privacy border, or simply a grouping in a bed.
Red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea) is a deciduous shrub native to Wisconsin and everywhere in the United States except about a dozen southeastern states. Native Americans across the United States and Canada made wide use of the plant. Most tribes smoked the inner bark and some ate the white, sour berries, while others used the branches for arrow making, stakes, and tools. (A side note: my sons found the branches to work quite well in making arrows as an experiment when they were young. Attaching a scavenged chicken feather made them fly true.) Western tribes used the peeled twigs as toothbrushes and many tribes used concoctions of plant parts medicinally and ceremonially.
Basket weaving was another widely used method of consuming dogwood. Combining it with willow (Salix species) yielded a multi-hued design. The bark was used as a dye and when mixed with other plants and materials resulted in colors ranging from dark to light red, black, and khaki. When young bark was stripped and dried in the spring it was used to make “ribbons” in the baskets.
Besides human consumers, wildlife is especially fond of this plant. The fleshy fruit ripens in the late summer, persists into the fall and sometimes into the winter. A long list of songbirds and game birds feast on these berries. In addition, the bushes provide cover and nesting sites for many of the songbirds. Mammals, small (rabbit, squirrel, mice, vole, skunk) and large (beaver, deer, moose) will eat the fruit and browse on the twigs and foliage. While this browsing might not be desirable in an urban setting, in a more rural setting, it is especially beneficial.
Red twig dogwood grows 2-10 feet high and wide, and it grows rapidly, around two feet per year. It has a broad, round, mounded form. It is adaptable to most types of soils and growing conditions and will grow in sun to part shade, although color will be best in full sun. It is salt sensitive, so planting it along a road or sidewalk is not a good choice. Fall foliage is reddish-purple, the small round whiteish flowers appear in the spring, followed by the berries in late summer through fall.
In late summer the younger branches turn red and color intensifies through the winter. However, only branches younger than 3 years old retain that color, so renewal pruning is in order to maintain the color. Every year remove the oldest one-third of the stems down to the base of the plant. This will not only retain the beautiful color, but will control the growth of the entire bush. If the plant gets out of hand, simply cut the entire thing down to the ground and let it rejuvenate.
Today, Red twig dogwood is used primarily as an ornamental plant, but can also be used for a windbreak. It does frequently appear in holiday and wedding décor as it will retain its brilliant color after cutting if handled properly.
Carol Shirk
Certified Master Gardener