A wonderful dogwood with so many uses and benefits, it has beautiful spring blossoms, great fall color, edible fruit that is showy and ornamental, and attractive bark. It can be grown as a lawn specimen, as a patio plant or sidewalk plant.
Kousa dogwood is an excellent small specimen tree for small lawns. Two outstanding characteristics are the four-petaled, white flowers that appear above the foliage in June and reddish-purple fall color. In the Midwest, this is a hardier substitute for the acid-loving flowering dogwood. The shallow root system will benefit with a layer of mulch to maintain a cool root environment.
Kousa Dogwoods are very showy for a long period of time as the flower bracts are showy longer than most flowers. They'll give you up to a month of display. The flowers precede the red fruit, which looks like a raspberry. Some people make jellies, jams and wine from the round red berries, or, leave the red colored fruit for birds! They'll be happy to snap them up for you without any fuss or muss.
best suited for zones 5-8.