Why does my variegated dogwood shrub have black/brown spots all over it. It did last year, too. I planted it as an ornamental-if its always going to look like this I'll remove it.
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Variegated dogwood spots
Submitted by readyjo on July 3, 2008 - 10:53am.
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Leaf spot on Dogwood is caused by several different fungi. It is most severe in moist, humid weather (sound like KC this year?). Where practical you should remove all the infected leaves and destroy them as well as any on the ground. Next spring spray your plant with a good garden disease and fungicide when leaves begin to break and again at 7 days, at mid-sized leaf growth and at mature leaf size. Re-spraying throughout the summer every 2-3 weeks will help improve your control. This should control the problem and provide the ornamentation you are looking for in your garden.
Hope this helps.
John
Johnson County Extension Master Gardener
John offers good advice, but the fact is, variegated dogwood shrubs just look ratty and rusty all summer if they're not regularly sprayed with fungicide. Variegated dogwoods are notoriously susceptible to leaf spot. I learned this the hard way and ended up removing the shrub. Sometimes we're willing to go an extra mile to keep a plant looking tidy. Sometimes we're not. Depends on the gardener and it depends on how much we love the plant.
Mine is the bright spot in my backyard, but it took a few years to get it right. Here is what worked for me: dormant rate lime sulfur spray in Feb. or early March (VERY effective), and later on, wide-spectrum fungicides (fruit tree spray and Immunox come to mind, but there are also others). Also, this beautiful shrub needs morning and mid-day sun. I have not had to spray all summer long - just the dormant spray (which I use on my fruit trees and roses anyhow, so no big deal to spray the red-twig as well), followed by two or three broad-spectrum funcide sprays.
For the record, I HATE spraying anything, but recognize that it is the only way I will have edible fruit. After the first or second week of July, come what may, no more spraying! If you are willing to be vigilant in spraying early every year, you might try this on your shrub.