Planting Ideas with Red Twig Dogwoods

Hedges

• There are many benefits to using red twig dogwood shrubs as a hedge. These plants are fast-growing, reaching their mature height of 6 to 8 feet in two to three years. Lightly fragrant, white flower clusters appear in the spring along with lush green foliage. Red twig dogwood foliage is thick throughout the summer, creating an ideal privacy screen, then changing to colorful leaves of gold, amber, rosy-red and apricot during the fall. Over the winter, a red twig dogwood hedge offers a splash of color in your landscape with abundant bright-red branches.

Accents

• Red twig dogwood shrubs are often used to accent an area of your landscape, particularly during the winter months when the bright red branches of the bush stand out. Because of the shrub's bright red branch display and its tolerance to subfreezing temperatures, red twig dogwood shrubs are a favorite shrub for gardeners in colder regions to provide bright, colorful visual interest in their landscape during the drab, colorless winter months.

Companions

• During the winter months, the bright red branches of a red twig dogwood complement the greenery of evergreen bushes and trees that the dogwood is often companion-planted with. Junipers, privets and holly all set off the red twigs of the bush. Flowering perennial plants such as peony, camellia, black-eyed Susan, painted daisy and deutzia growing by red twig dogwood shrubs accent the perennial flowers.

Difficult Areas

• The versatile growing requirements of a red twig dogwood makes it ideal for difficult growing conditions in your landscape. The shrub flourishes in wet areas, transforming an uninteresting growing spot into an attractive, colorful area. Once established, the shrub also tolerates drought-like conditions when planted in dry areas, and is not particular about the type of soil it's in.