dogwood tree and shade

by Angelica
(Redford MI USA)

I have purchased a new home in Redford Michigan (i don't know what zone that is). In the front yard is a lovely mature (12 feet tall) Dogwood with "fire bushes" next to it. The front of the home points due west. I wanted to plant a tree in the front lawn to lower the temperatures in the home in the summer. Will the planting of a shade tree eventually effect the dogwood tree or shrubs that are there currently?

Doug says that dogwoods are fairly shade tolerant. Euonymus bushes are sun-lovers and will tolerate some shade. So it depends on what kind of tree you intend to plant. If you're going for a dense shade tree such as a maple, then yes, when it gets large enough, it's going to shade out and kill the other plants (but not for quite a few years).

If you plant a more open, less dense shade producer such as Birch - then your plants are going to grow better but you won't get the same cooling effect.

So the answer to your question is that "it depends" on how much shade you're going to produce with your choice of tree. In any case, it will take over 10 years for that tree to get tall enough to do any appreciable damage to the larger Dogwood.