Dogwood

[Jay106n]

Anybody here deal with dogwood? I was going through a stack and I found a bunch of dogwood that I didn't even know I had. There are split very small but they are very heavy and dense. They are registering at 35% on the moisture meter and are still very wet. They have been stacked for about a year. Anybody know how long dogwood takes to season?

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Anybody here deal with dogwood? I was going through a stack and I found a bunch of dogwood that I didn't even know I had. There are split very small but they are very heavy and dense. They are registering at 35% on the moisture meter and are still very wet. They have been stacked for about a year. Anybody know how long dogwood takes to season?

View attachment 166125

Are you sure that is Dogwood, it doesn't look like any that we have here in PA.? Looks like something different to me....looks like Sycamore to me.

 

[billb3]

yeah that looks like sycamore,
regardless I've always mixed it in with oak in case it needed a long time to season- never had a large amount

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

.looks like Sycamore to me.

Yep, me too. It's a bear to dry. Holds on to the moisture. Having the bark on makes it worse, but those are really too small to split, so toss it back on the stack for next year. Usually two years does it.

 

[Jay106n]

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/detail.php?pid=125

It's kousa dogwood. Japanese.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Well, looky there. Learn something new every day.

 

[Applesister]

I looked it up too, wasnt sure but I would just stack it with the Oak pile. On top of stack or someplace it will dry fast.

 

[HisTreeNut]

What does it sound like? Because the easiest way to tell dogwood is by it's bark.....

 

[PA. Woodsman]

http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/detail.php?pid=125

It's kousa dogwood. Japanese.

You didn't tell us this was a TRICK QUESTION

Very interesting! Thanks for posting that. All of the Dogwood I've ever burned rocks, great stuff, you'll have to let us know if that holds true with this too....

 

[Paulywalnut]

I've cut a few dogwood and seasoned it three years. It burns very well. It is dense. I did split it all, even the small branch rounds.

 

[Jeffm1]

What does it sound like? Because the easiest way to tell dogwood is by it's bark.....

Good one!

 

[Woody Stover]

With small rounds like that, I sometimes try to crack them with a maul so air can get in the split, but I try to leave the round intact. Might be hard to do if that stuff is anything like the Flowering Dogwood we have here...tough stuff.

 

[Jay106n]

lol wasn't meant to be a trick, i knew it was dogwood, but didnt know it was japanese until i looked it up. I have one growing in my front yard so I knew it was a perfect match. As for the cuts, they are short (10"), very thin cuts, maybe an inch -2 inches thick. And are way heavier than some 18" cuts 4-6" diameter of other hardwoods I have. My guess is they are a 3 year seasoning type of wood. I am finding them mixed in with stack of cherry I have, which makes them pretty easy to spot. Also the cherry is dry, the dogwood is not. I am moving them over to my oak stacks as I find them.

 

[pdxdave]

A friend recently called me up and said he had a bunch of wood from a tree taken down in his backyard. Turns out it was a dogwood ! Maybe 1/2 cord, some pretty big pieces 14+ in diameter. Definitely a very dense wood, but appears to have a fair bit of moisture to lose. I was surprised to read some other posts here saying it is difficult to split - it is the easiest splitting wood I've ever dealt with. Even the gnarliest pieces snap in half with a sharp strike.

 

[Jay106n]

A friend recently called me up and said he had a bunch of wood from a tree taken down in his backyard. Turns out it was a dogwood ! Maybe 1/2 cord, some pretty big pieces 14+ in diameter. Definitely a very dense wood, but appears to have a fair bit of moisture to lose. I was surprised to read some other posts here saying it is difficult to split - it is the easiest splitting wood I've ever dealt with. Even the gnarliest pieces snap in half with a sharp strike.

I didnt split it, it was already split, but even the small pieces were heavy as bricks!

 

[Woody Stover]

I didnt split it, it was already split, but even the small pieces were heavy as bricks! My guess is they are a 3 year seasoning type of wood.

It's dense stuff, and takes a while to dry. Let it sit a couple years, and it'll burn long and hot for ya.

 

[Jeffm1]

Anybody here deal with dogwood? I was going through a stack and I found a bunch of dogwood that I didn't even know I had. There are split very small but they are very heavy and dense. They are registering at 35% on the moisture meter and are still very wet. They have been stacked for about a year. Anybody know how long dogwood takes to season?

View attachment 166125

It will season faster and better if you split it.

 

[Jay106n]

This is the same dogwood now stacked for 2 years. I MM split tested today and it came out at 17%, still heavy as hell tho.

 

[Woody Stover]

This is the same dogwood now stacked for 2 years. I MM split tested today and it came out at 17%, still heavy as hell tho.

Well, that's certainly like the Flowering Dogwood I see here.

 

[BenTN]

did you burn it last night? how did it do? we have a lot of native dogwood here but i have never burned it. i might put on my preferred list if it burns good.

 

[StihlKicking]

Once dry all dogwood I have ever tried burned extremely hot and long. I just burned some last weekend.

 

[Woody Stover]

did you burn it last night? how did it do? we have a lot of native dogwood here but i have never burned it. i might put on my preferred list if it burns good.

The problem is that they don't get too big, so you can't get a bunch stacked in a short time, like you can with a big Oak or something. It also takes a while to dry, and it's a waste trying to burn it before it's dry. All that said, I will still grab all I can get, since it is such high-BTU wood. It's on par with Shagbark Hickory, but a lot more durable. You can find little, dead ones lying around in the woods, and they will still be solid wood.

 

[D8Chumley]

I have scarfed up some dead and blow downs in my woods, just haven't burned any yet. It's in the oak stacks, maybe this year depending on the MM

 

[Jay106n]

I threw one split in just to see how it would do. It was like a stick of coal glowing bright and hot. I'm gonna save them for colder nights. It would probably make a great mix with oak.

 

[BamaScroungr]

There still seems to be some confusion. American dogwood and Asian or Kousa "dogwood" are two completely different species. The Kousa variety is what you have, which resembles sycamore. I have both in my stacks and haven't burned either variety, yet.