This is a leaf spot but without culturing in a lab it’s impossible to know which one. It’s not unusual to see leaf spot fungus damage at the end of the season as the plants start to drain their energy into the stems and roots and the green color leaves the foliage and any fungal damage becomes more obvious.
Also, any newly planted trees begin to shut down early since they don’t have large, established root systems yet. Although there is nothing that sets off alarm bells in this photo, know that spring flowering dogwoods are prone to dogwood anthracnose, which can be fatal to these plants – if your plant is a Cornus florida (not a Cornus kousa) you might want to take leaves into your garden center or cooperative extension next year if the problem reoccurs.If you have a kousa dogwood anthracnose isn’t a concern.
Be sure next year to soak the root system and area just beyond the dripline of the plant deeply once a week. Don’t hand water as this is never deep enough. Don’t spray the leaves as this is a cause of leaf spot and be sure any automatic watering doesn’t hit the foliage and waters deeply (2 hours plus) once a week if there isn’t an inch of rain.
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