Pruning Our Pagoda Dogwood Tree - July 2026

I planted a very small, native Pagoda Dogwood tree in our backyard in the Summer of 2021.  Five years ago.  It was from a municipal native tree sale and was just a foot tall.

Over the five years, it has grown up and out.  But, where it is planted is a little bit out-of-the-way.  Well...it is out-of-the-way now because the Weeping Redbud (Lavender Twist) bounced back after what I thought was it dying out.  That weeping Redbud has come back as a multi-trunk tree and has put on a bunch of size.  That means that this Pagoda Dogwood tree is now tucked in *behind* the redbud's foliage. 

That doesn't diminish the Pagoda Dogwood, though.  Just makes it a little bit harder to see.

I most recently covered this tree this past Winter when I posted a photo of the structure. 

Each of the last three growing seasons, I've pruned this tree after it was done flowering.  2023 pruning, 2024 pruning and last year, 2025 pruning.  

In each case, I only shortened up the limbs.  Didn't remove any of them.  The hope has been to try to stimulate some upwards growth.  That seems to have worked as the tree is now taller than me.

But, it is time to prune it again.  

Below are some photos.  Showing the tree as it stood pre-pruning.  

I didn't take much off.  Below is the result of the pruning of the tips:

Here it is after-pruning.  

There appears to be a competing leader.  Do I take this one out?  And, encourage the selection of one central leader?  

Here, below, are some berries that are still on the tree:

This tree appears to have suffered some rabbit damage down by the root flare.  It survived.  But, I still hate those (dang) rabbits:

I'm going to give some thought to the secondary leader and if I should remove it.  I'm thinking that this tree doesn't get very tall, so having two at this point isn't a deal-killer.  But, I'll keep looking at it and decide later. 

Here's the tree listing from the Morton Arboretum where they talk about how it is native to the suburbs and is a pretty, preeeety, preeeety nice tree.  From their description:

Pagoda dogwood is an excellent native plant for the four-season garden. The unique horizontal branching pattern has a distinct tiered habit, often catching snow in the winter. Clusters of white flowers show up in spring, dark green foliage turns a beautiful burgundy-red in fall, and blue-black berries attract many birds. Pagoda dogwood makes an attractive small tree or large shrub in a shade garden or for naturalizing.

This species is native to the Chicago Region according to Wilhelm and Rericha’s Flora of the Chicago Region.

If I come across this tree again, I would plant another one of them.  Probably closer to the house, so I can enjoy it a bit more.