Be proactive about fungal disease. The best approach is to purchase genetically resistant cultivars. Otherwise, think of fungicides as vaccines that prevent diseases rather than curing them. Apply fungicide when conditions favor disease development but before symptoms appear.
Minimize dogwood diseases. Keep them watered, maintain soil fertility and clean up leaf litter to reduce disease pressure. When purchasing a flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), seek out disease-resistant cultivars like ‘Cherokee Brave’ (pink bloom, partial resistance), ‘Jean’s Appalachian Snow’ (white bloom, high resistance), or ‘Kay’s Appalachian Mist’ (white bloom, high resistance). Alternatively, plant a Kousa dogwood (complete resistance) or a florida-kousa hybrid from the Rutgers ‘Constellation’ series (moderate resistance).
