Dogwood now in the sunshine all day

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user 152469

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We have a 10 year old dogwood tree that is about 15 feet tall and has been doing really well. It is on the north side of our home and is in a protected area. We live in SE Virginia with hot summers. We took down a wax myrtle that was next to the dogwood and apparently providing more shade than we realized. Toward the end of the summer the green leaves turned brown and the bottom leaves dropped off. the top leaves turned brown but are still hanging on. We realized that our dogwood now is tall enough and unprotected so the top half of it is in the sun all day from sun up to sunset. The top twigs are still green, but the lower ones are dead. I've added some light watering to the tree to try and keep the moisture up. My question is can I take the top of the tree off and lower the crown now, hoping it will come out i the spring. Perhaps I can get it short enough to be totally or mostly in the shade. Before I start topping it I thought I'd ask the pros. We would love to save it as it is very pretty in the spring and is next to our deck and back window.
Thanks in advance
 
Topping it isn't going to be of any benefit, likely be more of a detriment. I suspect what has happened is the tree is reacting to the sudden change in light availability and additional heat. Light watering didn't really help as the moisture probably didn't penetrate the soil more than an inch, nowhere near the depth of the roots.

I would recommend leaving the tree as it is for a year. Next summer (and this fall if you don't get any moisture) water the tree about 2x a week be let the water trickle for about 2-3 hrs so it will soak down to the root zone.
 
WARNING: TAKE MY ADVICE WITH EXTREME CAUTION OR NOT AT ALL.

Michael Pound, Times Staff
But the trees native to this area continue to struggle against a fungal disease, dogwood anthracnose, that attacks the trees' leaves and branches, often killing the plant if it goes untreated.
The fungus that causes anthracnose, called Discula destructiva, isn't native to the United States, said Michael Masiuk, a commercial horticulture educator with the Penn State Cooperative Extension office in Allegheny County. The fungus that has attacked trees in this area probably entered the country sometime in the 1970s near Connecticut and spread from there.
Beyond that, its origins are a mystery - it has yet to be identified on any dogwood species occurring outside the United States.
It arrived in Pennsylvania about a decade ago, Masiuk said, and was initially very destructive.
"It was devastating in both the trees that you'd find in the woods or in the trees at the nurseries," Masiuk said. "It has slowed some since then, but mostly because we've done a better job at understanding how it can be treated."
The disease reproduces when the spots produce spores in the spring. The spores are then spread, either locally by runoff from rain or over a longer distance by birds or insects. When the spores reach other trees, they bore into the tree, especially its leaves and smaller twigs, causing death of the tissue in the immediate area.
Anthracnose can strike other trees in the area, as well. John Smith, an arborist with Smith and Thompson Tree Service in Beaver Falls, said it's common in maples and sycamores, especially after a wet, humid spring.
Soggy weather is a key in all cases, Masiuk said.
"If we have a lot of rainfall during the time when the leaves are expanding, the fungus is going to spread," he said. "That usually means it's going to be a lot more widespread that year."
What does that look like? Masiuk said brown spots on leaves - sometimes with a purplish margin around the brown - or twig dieback are signs of anthracnose problems.
"If you see a lot of those on your tree, you should take a look at ways to treat it," he said.
There are some simple things that can help. Pruning out any dead twigs, and removing fallen leaves immediately should keep the disease from spreading further the following season. If that fails, a fungicide - Masiuk recommended Daconil 2787, available at garden centers - should help as well.
"Some of the treatment depends on how valuable the tree is," he said. "If you're talking about a tree that is the centerpiece of your landscaping, you should probably be more aggressive in treatment with fungicides."
Another possibility is planting trees that are resistant to the disease. Masiuk said researchers at the University of Tennessee developed a kind of dogwood, called Appalachian Spring, that has resisted the fungus.

Virginia borders PA so these considerations may apply
 
Anthracnose is fairly common on dogwoods. I have never seen a dogwood that you could definitively say was killed by anthracnose. It stresses the trees and reduces photosynthetic production thereby weakening the tree.

If you have anthranose, you can spray your trees with fungicides, but even easier than that is perform good cleanup of your yard. Don't compost the dogwood leaves as the heat in the compost pile isn't high enough to kill the spores.
 
Topping it isn't going to be of any benefit, likely be more of a detriment. I suspect what has happened is the tree is reacting to the sudden change in light availability and additional heat. Light watering didn't really help as the moisture probably didn't penetrate the soil more than an inch, nowhere near the depth of the roots.

I would recommend leaving the tree as it is for a year. Next summer (and this fall if you don't get any moisture) water the tree about 2x a week be let the water trickle for about 2-3 hrs so it will soak down to the root zone.
Thank you I think this is a good plan.
 
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