If your dogwood used to glow red or orange every winter and now looks grey and twiggy, it isn't sick. It's old. The bright colour is on young stems, and older wood fades as it matures. The fix is a hard cut in spring that feels brutal but works. Enjoy the stems all winter, then cut them down just as the new season starts.
01At a glance
- Why it fades: older wood loses its colour. The brightest bark is on stems less than about three years old.
- When to cut: between late winter and mid-spring. The RHS now suggests late March to mid-April, which also gives you the longest show.
- How low: for the full treatment, cut every stem to about 5–7.5cm above the ground.
- Gentler option: take out the oldest third of the stems at the base every year or two.
- Give new plants time: let a new dogwood establish for about two years, growing strongly, before the first hard cut.
02The hard cut (stooling)
This gives the most intense colour and keeps the shrub compact. The low woody base you leave behind is called a stool.
- Wait until late March to mid-April. You get the whole winter display first, and the plant is about to grow.
- Cut every stem down to 5–7.5cm from the ground, with clean, sharp secateurs or loppers. In later years, cut back to just above the previous year's stubs.
- Feed and mulch straight afterwards. The RHS advises a balanced fertiliser on poor soil and a mulch of well-rotted organic matter, kept clear of the stem bases so they don't rot.
- Water in dry summers. Stems that struggle in a drought make a poorer show the next winter.
By autumn you'll have a thicket of straight new shoots, and once the leaves fall they'll be the brightest stems the plant can make.
03The one-third method
If you want a bigger shrub, or the hard cut looks too drastic for your space, thin it instead.
- Pick out the oldest, thickest, dullest stems. They're usually grey or brown rather than bright.
- Cut about a third of all the stems right down to the base. The University of Minnesota Extension suggests doing this every year or two.
- Leave the younger, coloured stems standing. They carry the display while new shoots come up from the base.
You'll get a taller, fuller shrub with slightly less intense colour overall. It's a fair trade in a small garden where a bare stump in April would look odd.
04Which dogwood for which colour
Grow dogwoods in full sun for the strongest colour, in soil that stays reliably moist. They do badly in very dry soil or deep shade. As our dogwood profile explains, they're tough, easy and happy in damp ground.
- Red: Cornus alba 'Sibirica', the Siberian dogwood, is the classic red-stemmed choice.
- Yellow-green: Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea', the golden-twig dogwood.
- Orange to red: Cornus sanguinea cultivars such as 'Midwinter Fire' and 'Anny's Winter Orange'.
The RHS notes that less vigorous types, such as 'Midwinter Fire', can be cut every couple of years rather than every year. Weak plants generally should be pruned more lightly.
05Mistakes that dull the display
- Never pruning. The shrub fills with old grey wood and the colour fades a little more each year.
- Pruning in autumn. You cut off the winter display before it starts.
- Hard-pruning in the first year. Let a young plant establish first.
- Planting in shade or dry soil. The stems will be weak and dull.
- *Hard-pruning the wild native Cornus sanguinea*** in a wildlife hedge. Cutting it hard each spring removes its flowers, which wildlife uses. The RHS advises against it.
Before planting where children or pets play, check the safety notes on our dogwood profile.
How we checked this
Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.
Sources: RHS — Dogwoods for stems: growing guide · RHS — Cornus for stems · RHS — Pruning for colourful stems or large foliage · University of Minnesota Extension — Redosier dogwood
Checked 8 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.