The dogwood or horn bush (botanically called Cornus) is a popular ornamental and hedge plant, which, however, tends to grow quickly if the location and growth conditions are good. The native species are considered to be quite undemanding and easy to care for - which, however, becomes a problem. as soon as you want to get rid of the stubborn growths.
How to remove dogwood effectively?
To permanently remove dogwood, cut the bush just above the ground in summer, remove recurring root shoots and dig up the roots as much as possible. A weed film helps to prevent new sprouts.
Dogwood propagates from root runners
Dogwoods reproduce in a variety of ways, namely via cuttings, suckers, seeds and - this is the biggest problem when removing the plant from the garden - root runners. As long as there is still enough energy stored in the roots, the dogwood will continue to sprout from them. This can be just as annoying as the fact that there are always numerous seedlings in the near and far surroundings of a dogwood planting that are spread by birds - these in turn find the berries of the bush very tasty.
Cut the dogwood several times directly above the ground
In order to permanently remove a dogwood from the garden, there is basically only one thing that helps: you have to cut the bush several times directly above the ground and pull out the recurring root shoots just as carefully. However, you should not cut the dogwood for this purpose in winter, because at this point the plant still has sufficient reserves in its rootstock and will therefore come back even more stubbornly (and stronger). Instead, cut the bush in the warm summer months when the plant collects strength for the winter through its leaves and stores it in its roots. Without leaves, no reserves can accumulate in the underground parts - so at some point the dogwood will be too weak to sprout again.
What else you can do
However, you need a lot of patience for the constant cutting and plucking, because the stubborn dogwood is not considered a pioneer plant for nothing: it tries again and again to sprout new plants. To shorten the whole process, you should not only cut off the above-ground parts of the plant, but also dig up and remove the roots as much as possible. However, these can grow several meters wide and just as deep, depending on the existing soil conditions.
Tip
If you don't want to dig so much, cut the dogwood directly above the ground in summer and then cover the area generously with a light-proof weed film (€34.00 on Amazon). This remains there for a few months (if possible over the cold season) and thus prevents it from sprouting again.