Dogwoods – Planting Close Together

Q: I would like to plant dogwoods in memory of a loved one. I would like to plant a white, a pink and a red dogwood together so they fuse into one mass with three colors. Will that work?

A: It should be beautiful in a couple of years. You need to plant the young trees close, but not too close. Here’s what I’d do: Use a shovel to thoroughly loosen soil in an eight foot diameter circle. Put the three trees in the center. I’d plant them so the trunks are eighteen inches apart in a triangle. That should be far enough apart to keep the trunks from rubbing on each other when they mature and bloom in a few years. The University of Georgia has a nice publication on choosing and planting dogwoods at https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C900#Varieties.