kelp, thanks for your post. I have a gray dogwood planted 3 or 4 yrs ago, that hasn't bloomed yet and I wondered if it ever would. Mine is a shrub with downward direction to the branches. I haven't seen any break. When the wind comes it moves nicely with it. It is planted on the north side of a south facing fence though. Not exactly in the windiest part of the yard. My fall color is a muddy yellow that I'm not that fond of. I haven't fertilized it at all and it is in part shade, with only a couple of hours of morning sun. I do like the shrub's appearance and it was thankfully a fast grower as I needed a screen. The one thing I don't like about it, is that it suckers. It REALLY suckers quite a bit and far from the base of the shrub. That worries me and I hope I won't have to pull it out. I put two hydrangea in front of it and I hope that will keep it out of the lawn at least. Here is a photo...

no properly prune it out.. once it leafs.. you will not see the loss .. especially in regard to the last pic ... its been a heck of a couple weeks here in adrian mi ... this aint nothing compared to some of my damage ... with no insult to the root system .... there is no reason that it can not fill in any open spots.. by fall ... depending on what type of dogwood.. i would be more concerned with the multiple days near -20 .... than this rather minor pruning concern ... prune it properly.. and be done with it ... though i didnt think one usually doesnt think to REJUVENATION PRUNE a dogwood.. but the shape of yours would lend itself to pruning under this method... google that term for youtube and guidance ... do it right.. and forget about all these voodoo remedies ... you will spend hours and many dollars.. and most likely.. end up failing.. next time you have the next ice/heavy snow storm ... a $10 invest in a good pruning saw.. and cut that branch out.. as close to the ground as you can get down in there .. no trimming at height ... get in there .... good luck .. go blue or green at your discretion ... ken

Gray dogwood is a great wildlife plant. Mine are spreading a little wider than I wanted them to though. Be sure you allow plenty of room. They sucker.

Jasonkay, if the plants are in pots, the general rule of thumb is that they can be planted anytime during the growing season. You just want to be sure that the potted plants are well-hydrated and are acclimated to their new growing conditions before planting, i.e. don't take a potted plant that is accustomed to part shade and plant it in full blazing sun without a little protection. Also be sure to water regularly and mulch, esp in the summer. Now transplanting a plant in the ground from one location to another is a whole different story. In that case you are digging up an established plant, exposing and damaging roots, and causing a great deal more stress to the plant that simply plopping a potted plant in the ground. Although it can be done in the summer with great care, it's best to do this in spring or fall. As for pot bound roots, I usually use my hands to uncircle and spread the roots out. If they're impossible to unwind, then slicing a bit helps. Sometimes I can be pretty rough with the roots but most plants don't seem to mind. Last November I bought 3 Baptisia on sale, a plant that establishes deep roots and doesn't like them disturbed (so I've heard). They were terribly root-bound, though so I had to do something. I decided to re-pot them in larger pots, and really man-handled those roots. Unwound them, cut some, spread them out. Then they overwintered in my pot ghetto, surrounded by leaves and protection. You should have seen them grow and bloom this Spring, even before they were planted out!