Anonymous wrote:Our dogwood looks like it is unhealthy. The bark of the tree isn't smooth. It looks cracked everywhere and has large sections that are peeling right off. The tree still managed to bloom thisnyear, but the leaves and flowers look very weak/small. The flowers are brown already and didn't last long. There are some branches that didn't really grow anything. Should I just cut it down? Is it diseased or just old and over its lifespan?

Sounds a little to what happened to mine.
2 springs ago, the white flowers of my dogwood had brown spots. Last spring, for the 1st time in 20 years my dogwood did not have flowers at all.
Then all leaves starting turning brown and falling. I spent countless hours reading/researching on the web.
There is a fungus and if untreated, usually kills dogwoods in 3 years
I bought a systemic fungicide (called infuse) and treated the dogwood according to the instructions using a sprayer: 3 fungicide applications 2 weeks apart each.
I made sure no rain was in the forecast 3 days after each application so it could absorb the fungicide. I sprayed not only leaves, but branches, trunk and soil around the tree.
It worked and leaves stopped turning brown and falling.
This spring now the tree is full of flowers again and looks gorgeous.
However i can still see some flowers showing the brown spots, so i will start treating it again as soon as the flowers are gone.
I would suggest you try this as it sounds to what was happening to mine.

It was a weird year for dogwoods. Leave it for another and then reassess. There are disease resistant cultivars- look for the Appalachian in the name.

Dogwoods are prone to disease sadly. We have a ton of them but are losing them one by one.

how much sun is it getting?

We had a landscaper come out this spring to do some planting. We asked about our dogwood that is looking pretty sad. He said it’s happening all over, some fungus in the soil causing root rot.

NP. We have lost 4 over the last few years. The recent storm took down a number of limbs and it doesn’t look like those will survive (just one branch with flowers). Not sure if we should cut back or remove. If we remove, I’d like to replant with something similar.

Dogwoods are not very sturdy. You may have to take the tree down.

Anonymous wrote:Was it damaged last year by the cicadas? How old/mature is it?

I don't think it was the cicadas. Not sure how old. It came with the house we bought. I'm going to guess 10-15 years though. Fwiw, the bark looks and has a texture exactly like this:


https://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5177093

Except there's a lot more peeling.

Was it damaged last year by the cicadas? How old/mature is it?

Our dogwood looks like it is unhealthy. The bark of the tree isn't smooth. It looks cracked everywhere and has large sections that are peeling right off. The tree still managed to bloom thisnyear, but the leaves and flowers look very weak/small. The flowers are brown already and didn't last long. There are some branches that didn't really grow anything. Should I just cut it down? Is it diseased or just old and over its lifespan?