Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Shrub of 0.3–4 m, often creeping or with arching branches.

Leaf

Alternate, small (0.5–5 cm) and untoothed; many species are evergreen.

Branches

Wall cotoneaster has branches in a herringbone pattern.

Flower

Small white or pink flowers in May–June; a bee magnet.

Fruit

Red berries, lasting into winter.

Difference from firethorn

Firethorn has thorns and toothed leaves.

Flowering: May–June · Pruning: March–April and August–September

Identify by feature: Evergreen leaves · Red berries

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Firethorn Pyracantha: thorns and toothed leaves. Difference from firethorn

Why grow it?

• Little white or pink flowers in May–June: a bee magnet.
• Red berries into winter, for blackbirds and thrushes.
• A tough ground cover for dry, sunny banks, where little else grows.

Cotoneaster: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in sun it flowers more freely and bears more berries.
• Any soil, dry or moist, poor or rich.
• Allow 1.5–2 m width; creeping species cover a bank within a few years.
• Not in or near the dunes or a nature area: birds spread the seeds.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Dry to wet

Size

4 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Guelder rose: A native shrub with white flower heads and red berries: a good partner or alternative.
• Wild privet: Native and semi-evergreen, with fragrant flowers for insects and berries for birds.
• Garden thyme: A low, fragrant ground cover for the same sunny, dry bank, also loved by bees.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: ginkgo, box elder, ash, honey locust, field maple, silver maple

Best kept away from

• Fruit trees that can catch fireblight from this plant: apple, pear, nashi pear

Cotoneaster: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from a pot in spring (March–April) or autumn (October–November).
2. As ground cover: about 2–3 plants per m².
3. Weed thoroughly before planting and, on a bank, spread a layer of wood chips against weeds until the plants have closed up.
4. Water after planting, and in dry spells during the first year.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

Not needed; too much fertiliser gives long, soft shoots that are more prone to fireblight.

Weeding

Keep young ground cover weed-free until it has closed up.

Seedlings

Pull up seedlings in and around the garden while they are young, so it doesn’t run wild.

Tip: Looking for a native alternative for berries and bees? Choose guelder rose, wild privet or spindle as a shrub, and burnet rose or creeping willow as a low shrub on sandy soil.

Cotoneaster: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March–April and August–September.

When: At the end of winter or after flowering.

How:

• Cut overlong branches back to a side branch; don’t clip everything to the same height.
• On wall cotoneaster: cut out branches that stick out from the wall or grow over a path, and keep the herringbone shape intact.
• Cut out branches with fireblight at once, even outside the pruning season.

Caution: In late summer you also cut off berries: only prune what is really necessary then. Disinfect your pruning tools afterwards, because of fireblight.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Layering

Creeping species often root by themselves where a branch touches the ground: cut that piece free in spring and plant it elsewhere.

Cuttings

In July–August, take semi-ripe cuttings and insert them in sandy cutting compost under plastic or glass.

Cotoneaster: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Hardy; evergreen species keep their leaves, while wall cotoneaster drops them after red autumn colour.
• The red berries are a winter store for blackbirds, thrushes and other birds.

Diseases and pests

• Fireblight: Flowers and shoots suddenly wilt and turn blackish-brown, as if scorched. Cut back well into healthy wood, disinfect your tools and dispose of the prunings (not on the compost heap).
• Running wild: Seedlings appear in hedges, verges and dunes. Pull them up young; dig out larger shrubs roots and all.
• Aphids: On young shoots in spring; ladybirds and tits usually deal with them.
• Weeds in the ground cover: Grasses and perennial weeds grow through ground cover that hasn’t closed up yet. Weed thoroughly before planting and mulch until it has closed.

Through the year

• March: End-of-winter pruning; planting possible.
• April: Last month of spring pruning.
• May: Flowering: a bee magnet.
• June: Flowering ends; berries start to form.
• August: Light pruning where needed; berries colour up.
• September: Last month for pruning; red berries for the birds.
• October: Planting; pull up seedlings.
• December: Birds eat the berries.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Ground cover on banks, low hedge or shrub against a wall.

For wildlife

A bee magnet in flower; berries for birds.

Caution: Host plant of fireblight; some species escape into the wild.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Bumblebees

Nectar and pollen for bumblebees, also from deep flowers and early in spring.

Hoverflies

Open flowers for hoverflies; many of their larvae eat aphids.

Did you know?

• Several species escape from gardens and run wild, including in the dunes.
• Most species come from the mountains of China and the Himalayas.
• Cotoneaster means ‘a kind of quince’: the Latin cotoneum (quince) plus the suffix -aster, ‘resembling’.
• Many cotoneasters set seed without fertilisation, so the seedlings are clones of the mother plant. As a result there are a great many species that are hard to tell apart.