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About this plant
What makes this plant special
'Gouchaultii' adds colour in every season: the leaves unfold tinged with purple, are variegated with gold and pink through the summer and turn red in autumn. At about 2 m tall and 1.7 m wide it stays well branched down to the base, so the glossy red stems form a dense screen in winter.
Dogwood Cornus
Dogwoods (Cornus) are deciduous or evergreen shrubs, small trees and a few creeping perennials from the temperate northern hemisphere. Some are grown for their brightly coloured winter stems, others for the showy white or pink bracts around their tiny flowers, and many for their fiery autumn colour and berries that birds enjoy.
Cornus alba
Tatarian dogwood (Cornus alba) is a vigorous, upright shrub from Siberia and northern China, usually 2 to 3 m tall. Its young stems turn bright red in winter, the leaves colour well in autumn, and flat clusters of creamy flowers in May and June are followed by whitish berries that later take on a bluish tint.
Location and soil
It grows in sun or partial shade and is undemanding about soil: clay, chalk and poorly drained ground are all fine, which makes it ideal beside water. Avoid dense shade, which slows growth and dulls the stem colour. It is fully hardy in Belgium.
Pruning and care
Cut back the stems in February or March, as only the new shoots carry the strongest colour. Cut low, to about 30 cm, for a compact shrub, or remove only a third of the oldest stems each year for a larger plant. Once established it needs little else.
Use in the garden
Grow it in groups for winter colour, in informal hedges, on banks and along ponds and streams. Forms with variegated or golden leaves brighten darker corners in summer, and the berries attract birds.
Plant characteristics
Botanical
| Family | Cornaceae |
| Genus | Cornus |
| Species | alba |
| Cultivar | 'Gouchaultii' |
Flowering
| Flowering period | may to june |
| Colour (flower) | white |
| Flowers | plant with flowers |
Foliage
| Evergreen | no |
| Colour (foliage) | yellow, variegated |
Growth habit
| Height | 200 cm |
Location
| Winter hardiness | -30 °C |
| Soil type | acid |
| Location | sun, half shade |
| Soil moisture | moist, normal |
Use
| Type (use) | shrub, hedge plant, fruit/berries, solitary, in group |
Care
| Pruning | yes, january to february |