Dogwood question?

[Russell Eaton]

We had a gathering yesterday at my parents house. I noticed ALL the dogwood trees have died in the yard. Bad part is they are my moms favorite trees, good part is they are bowl blanks now:rolleyes:. Anyhow I wondered if this is local or if others are seeing the same thing happen? I was able to get 3 large bowl blanks from the trees, and 12-15 smaller ones. All the blanks have the same pinkish tint of the first natural edge bowl I posted earlier this week. Thanks in advance for any help with this question. I may be cutting a lot more of these, we have 20 acres beside the house that belongs to my LOML family.

[Fred Perreault]

A common disease is anthracnose. There are others, but dogwoods are a target for disease.

[Lee Koepke]

I hate to hear that. I really like dogwoods! I only have 4 or 5 scattered throughout my property, I'd hate to lose them

[Charlie Reals]

My back hill is covered with Dogwood. They do not get big enough for bowls butt are nice for canes and walking staffs. I've only seen one over 12" dia. Most here die off at 6-8"

[Baxter Smith]

I have had one medium sized dogwood 6" die on my property about three years ago. I have more that are still doing well but I was worried about the others at the time.

Another possible turning use if you feel like digging out some stumps is mallets. Turned this mallet in 1984 when I needed something for timber framing. The wood is quite hard if you can get down to where the roots branch out on the sides. I didn't quite make it that far. Still works.:)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The ones in my neighborhood are fine. We have a lot of them in the area and actually have a local dogwood festival. I don't think I've ever seen one get big enough for bowls around here.

[charlie knighton]

dogwood makes fine handles for tools

[Dusty Fuller]

Dogwood is good for anything I can think to turn. Its one of my favorites, especially for endgrain stuff.

[John Daugherty]

Dogwood anthracnose is a fungal infection. A few years ago we had a large die off of dogwoods in this area. I noticed that the ones in the shade seemed to be more susceptible. We had about 8 in the yard. All the ones in the shade died. The ones in full sun didn't. Since then I've noticed this same thing in other places.

[Cody Colston]

At one time after I built my current house, I could stand on the front deck and count 35 wild Dogwood trees in front. I have about 10 or so left now.

One thing that I've done is to start mulching around the base of the trees with my Cedar planer shavings. I can generate three or four 35 gal drums of shavings when I start milling Cedar for a project like a blanket chest. It seems to have helped the Dogwoods because I've not had one die that I have mulched around. We've been in a moderate drought here for a while so perhaps the mulch helps retain moisture around the trees.

I've turned a few items from the Dogwood trees that died but I find the stuff is really difficult to keep from cracking. It's very hard and the pink color is beautiful but I don't go out of my way to turn it anymore. I do have a shop mallet made out of Dogwood that I faced with leather. It has served me pretty well.

[Russell Eaton]

Thanks for the replies. John all the trees in my parents yard are in the shade. Most all the ones at my house are as well, with the exception of the 2 pink Dogwood trees that I planted in the back yard. One of them has not looked well for a couple of years now. Thanks again for the info. 2 of the bowl blanks are now looking a lot more like bowls and a lot less like a log.

[Art Jordan]

According to historical account (clearly not scientifically documented)..the cross of Jesus was made from Dogwood and God declared that in the future, no dogwood tree would grow big enough to make a cross that big.
That being said.....I have cut/turned a lot of dogwood and rarely find any over about eight inches in diameter..most smaller than eight. Beautiful wood, some especially with a pink tint. Only thing harder may be ironwood.

[Charlie Reals]

According to historical account (clearly not scientifically documented)..the cross of Jesus was made from Dogwood and God declared that in the future, no dogwood tree would grow big enough to make a cross that big.
That being said.....I have cut/turned a lot of dogwood and rarely find any over about eight inches in diameter..most smaller than eight. Beautiful wood, some especially with a pink tint. Only thing harder may be ironwood.

John,
I have heard for years the story of Gods curse on the tree. I have searched and only found vague reference to it but no source, most folks have never heard it. I find the 8" to be true here also. I have only seen two larger.