Hi, 

Did you have any yard care personnel come while you were away? If so, do you know if they watered? It was a very dry growing season with drought conditions still persisting through many central counties in Maryland. 

Deep watering should be done at least for the first 3 years after planting a tree, and with dry years, it is helpful to water during those times as well. 

You can supplement irrigation (even with the recent rainfall) through the Autumn until the ground freezes to help with the root stress from the dry soils. Just be sure to feel the soil first under the mulch to see if it is dry first. You can refer to our watering trees and shrubs guide for details on how, when, and how much to water. Probably a deep watering about once a week would be good.

It probably did shed leaves early as a form of protection during the heat and drought, but as long as the spring buds are viable, it should flower and leaf out again next year. 

In the one photo we can see some old cicada damage on the branch which you could prune out to help alleviate additional stress as well. Next spring, if there are dead branches or dieback from root damage, just prune out those sections and hopefully it will stimulate new growth.

Let us know if you have any further questions. 

Emily

Thanks, Emily. I had mowing service, but they didn’t water.

Hello Lew,

There isn't a set amount of gallons per watering, but as a very rough guess based on the tree's current size, you might aim for at least 10 or more gallons per irrigation session. As a point of comparison, typical tree-watering bags hold about 20 gallons when full, but they drip so gradually that this will not flood-out the roots and might be an easier way to irrigate a young tree. You can fill up a bag, let it drip dry at its own pace, and refill once the soil in the tree's root zone has become somewhat dry to the touch around a six-inch depth. If damp to the touch at that depth when checked instead, then watering can probably wait, especially since dogwoods are sensitive to being overwatered.

You don't need to remove cicada damage, just be aware that any wood weakened by that injury might be prone to storm damage or dying during stresses like drought, at which point they can of course be pruned out. Pruning of live wood should ideally be limited to no more than a quarter a tree's canopy volume any given year to minimize stress on the plant.

Miri