| Can I space my red twig dogwood plants 3 ft apart in a nothern exposure - some dry and some wet locations. Some will be in a pretty shady situation. |
| You could do that, but keep in mind their mature size of about six feet across while you plan. If space is limited, you might be happier in a few years if you use fewer plants. (They grow pretty quickly.) These shrubs tend to spread, so a three foot spacing would result in more of a crowded hedge effect than a grouping of bushes. Crowding can make plants less healthy because they have to compete with each other for air, water, nutrients, and light. Since the growing conditions vary, there will be some unavoidable variation in how the individual plants grow, so the "hedge" look will not necessarily be all that uniform. This shrub prefers moisture and may grow better in the damper spots. It also tolerates shade but likes sun, so the shaded plants may look thinner than the sunnier plants and if the shade is dense, the fully shaded plants will not look as good as those that receive more sun. |
