Dying dogwood tree

[kbiron]

I have a dogwood tree that is about 8 years old and stands approximately 15 feet tall. It was healthy until last year, when it only had one bloom. This year there were more blooms, but they were irregular, only two petals appeared and they were curly and did not mature. I took a closer look at the tree and it seems the lower branches are dead. The upper branches have leaves, but I think the tree is slowly dying. There is a green shelf-like fungus growing on the tree, but it looks like the normal fungus you would find on trees around heavy moisture. Any suggestions, I would hate to lose this tree?

[woofgang]

You may have found your own solution, mentioning heavy moisture. Dogwoods do not like wet feet and the recent wet last summer and winter may be rotting the roots. There is a bacterium that affects tree roots in wet conditions, it nearly did for my prunus subhirtella autumnalis a few seasons ago. Solution? drastically improve the drainage or move the tree...probably move the tree while you are inprovng the drainage, as the bacterium sits in the soil