Franchet’s cotoneaster

Franchet’s cotoneaster: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Broad, loose shrub up to 3 m high and wide, with arching branches.

Leaves

Oval, 2–3.5 cm, grey-green above, white to buff felted below; semi-evergreen.

Flower

Small, pink-tinged white flowers in clusters, in June.

Fruit

Small, egg-shaped orange-red berries, from September into winter.

Roots

Deep and well branched: once established it stands firm and copes with drought.

Flowering: June · Plants: April–May and September–October · Pruning: February–March

Why grow it?

• Graceful, arching branches with grey-green leaves: lovely as an informal hedge or as a specimen.
• Small flowers in June, busy with bees and bumblebees.
• Orange-red berries from autumn into winter, a feast for blackbirds and thrushes.
• Very tough: tolerates wind, drought, poor soil and both sun and partial shade.
• Low maintenance: it hardly needs pruning.

Franchet’s cotoneaster: where does it grow best?

• Sun or partial shade; in sun it flowers more and sets more berries.
• Any soil that is not waterlogged: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Dry to moist; suitable for windy spots.
• As an informal hedge plant 80–100 cm apart; as a specimen allow 2.5–3 m of space.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

3 m tall, 3 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -20 °C)

Goes well with

• Holly: Evergreen with red berries: together a rich hedge for birds.
• Red-barked dogwood: Red stems in winter next to the grey-green leaves.
• Privet: A tough, semi-evergreen hedging plant that copes with the same soil and also attracts bees.
• Michaelmas daisy: Flowers in September–October in front of the shrub, as the berries colour.
• Ornamental grasses: Swaying plumes next to the arching branches.

Franchet’s cotoneaster: when and how to plant it?

Plant in April–May and September–October.

1. Plant in April–May or September–October, when the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and loosen the bottom well.
3. Set the plant at the same depth as in the pot and firm the soil.
4. For a hedge: stretch a line and plant 80–100 cm apart, in a zigzag if you like.
5. Water thoroughly straight away and during dry spells in the first year.
6. Mulch with wood chips or leaf mould to keep weeds down.

Care

Water

Only in dry spells during the first year; after that it looks after itself.

Feeding

Not needed; on very poor soil, some compost in March.

Mulching

A layer of wood chips around young plants keeps weeds down until the hedge closes up.

Berries

Leave them on: birds eat them over the winter.

Seedlings

Birds spread the seed. Pull up young seedlings in the garden promptly.

Tip: Let it grow freely and only now and then remove an old branch at the base: that keeps its graceful, arching shape with flowers and berries.

Franchet’s cotoneaster: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February–March.

When: It hardly needs pruning. If you want to shape or thin it, do so in February–March, before growth starts.

How:

• Remove a few old or crossing branches right at the base or back to a side branch; this keeps the graceful shape.
• Shorten overlong branches to a side shoot that points outwards.
• Do not shear it into a block or ball: you would lose the arching branches, the flowers and the berries.
• A neglected shrub tolerates hard renovation pruning and reshoots from old wood.

Caution: Disinfect your secateurs after cutting out diseased branches, so as not to spread fireblight.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Semi-ripe cuttings

In July–August: heeled cuttings of 10–15 cm in cutting compost under plastic; they root fairly easily.

Layering

In spring, peg a low branch into the soil and cover it; sever it after a year and replant.

Seed

Slow and unpredictable: the seeds need a cold period and often germinate only after a year or more.

Franchet’s cotoneaster: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

• Very hardy, to about −20 °C: no protection needed in Belgium.
• In severe winters it loses some of its leaves; it simply reshoots in spring.
• The berries often stay on well into winter, when they are an important food source for birds.

Diseases and pests

• Fireblight: Flowers, leaves and young shoots suddenly wither and turn brown-black as if scorched, often with a hooked tip. Cut back well into healthy wood, dispose of the prunings and disinfect your secateurs.
• Woolly aphid: White, woolly tufts on the branches. Brush them off or blast them with a strong jet of water.
• Scale insects: Brown bumps on the stems and sticky leaves. Brush off with a soft brush or cut out affected shoots.
• Seedlings: Birds spread the seed; young plants appear in the garden and beyond. Pull them up promptly.

Through the year

• February: Thin out if needed: remove old branches at the base.
• March: Prune if necessary. Compost on poor soil.
• April: Plant. Apply mulch. Pull up seedlings.
• May: Plant. Water a young hedge in dry weather.
• June: Flowering: bees and bumblebees in the shrub.
• July: Take semi-ripe cuttings.
• August: Take cuttings. The berries start to colour.
• September: Plant. Orange-red berries.
• October: Plant. Berries for the birds.
• December: Berries for blackbirds and thrushes.

Edible and useful

Not edible. The red berries of cotoneaster are mildly poisonous: the seeds contain compounds that can release cyanide. A few berries usually cause no symptoms, but a larger amount can cause stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea, in dogs and cats too. The berries stay on from autumn well into winter, often at a child’s height or, on the creeping kinds, right beside a path, and they tempt small children. Teach them that the berries are for the birds, and pick them off where toddlers play. Birds, however, eat them without harm and so spread the seeds. If any is swallowed, call a poison centre (in Belgium 070 245 245) or your doctor at once.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

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

Did you know?

• The species is named after the French botanist Adrien Franchet, who described many Chinese plants in the 19th century.
• The name Cotoneaster comes from the Latin cotoneum, quince, with the suffix -aster, meaning ‘somewhat resembling’.
• Cotoneasters belong to the rose family, like apple, pear and hawthorn, and like them can get fireblight.