White Dogwood Hedge Plants

Cornus Alba Hedging

Delivered by Mail Order Direct from our Nursery with a Year Guarantee

Known as either Red Barked, or White, Dogwood, this is a vigorous shrub with colourful young bark. It makes a good hedging plant and will grow on any soil. Cornus alba is a distinctive shrub with red stems, white fruit and decent autumn colour. The flowers aren't very big and are mostly hidden by the leaves, but they will attract bees and butterflies. It will grow in any soil, particularly damper sites. It is a great hedge plant and can also be hard pruned as a specimen shrub, although we suggest using one of the more brightly coloured ornamental varieties for this. It is good for hedges up to about 3 metres high.

View our selection of dogwood plants or see our full range of hedging.

Cornus alba hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March). All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Cornus alba hedge:

Plant Cornus alba hedging at 3 plants per metre, 33cm apart.

Did You Know?

This hardy plant is native to Siberia, Eastern China and Korea. It was introduced to Britain in the 1740's. It is the parent of the magnificently coloured ornamental dogwoods such as Sibirica, Kesselringii, Spaethii and others. 

Growing Cornus alba plants:
Cornus alba will grow well in any soil, but it needs at least half a day of full sun. It loves waterlogged soil and will tolerate chalk.

Prepare your site before planting:
Hedge plants like Cornus alba are very tough. The only essential preparation is to kill the weeds in a strip a metre wide along the planting site: improving the soil should not be necessary. If your soil is exceptionally poor and dry, then digging in some well rotted manure and/or compost is worthwhile.

Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details. The plants in this video are delivered pot-grown, but planting out bareroot stock is essentially the same.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a plastic spiral guard for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser.

After Care

After you have planted your Cornus alba hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Trimming Dogwood hedge plants:
From the winter after planting onwards, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly once every winter, until it is mature. When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime.

Special notes on caring for Cornus alba hedges:
Cornus alba is a very tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.

After you have planted your Cornus alba hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Trimming Dogwood hedge plants:
From the winter after planting onwards, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly once every winter, until it is mature. When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime.

Special notes on caring for Cornus alba hedges:
Cornus alba is a very tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.