Willow-leaved cotoneaster

Willow-leaved cotoneaster: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Large, broad shrub 3–4 m tall and wide, with arching branches.

Foliage

Narrow and lance-shaped, 4–8 cm, willow-like; dark green and wrinkled above, grey-felted beneath. Some leaves drop in severe winters.

Flower

Small white flowers in flat clusters, in June.

Fruit

Small, bright red berries in bunches, from September into winter.

Roots

Strong and branching: once established it copes well with drought.

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

Why grow it?

• An evergreen screen with a graceful, arching habit.
• Small white flowers in June that are covered in bees and bumblebees.
• Red berries from autumn into winter: food for blackbirds and thrushes.
• Undemanding: grows in sun and partial shade, on sand, loam or clay.
• Suits an informal hedge, a windbreak or hiding a bare wall.

Willow-leaved cotoneaster: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in sun it flowers more freely and carries more berries.
• Almost any soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky, as long as it does not stay wet for long.
• Dry to normally moist; once established it copes well with drought.
• Allow 3–4 m across for a freestanding shrub; for an informal hedge, plant 1–1.5 m apart.
• Do not plant it right next to a nature area: birds spread the seeds.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

4 m tall, 4 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -20 °C)

Goes well with

• Mahonia: Evergreen, with yellow winter flowers next to the red berries.
• Guelder rose: A native shrub with white flower heads and red berries for a mixed hedge.
• Holly: Evergreen and also carrying red berries in winter.
• Ornamental grasses: Airy plumes in front of the dark shrub in autumn and winter.
• Snowdrop: A white carpet under the arching branches in February.

Willow-leaved 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 of the hole.
3. Set the shrub at the same depth as it was in the pot and firm the soil well.
4. Space plants 1–1.5 m apart for a hedge or screen, 3–4 m for a freestanding shrub.
5. Water in thoroughly straight away, then regularly during dry spells in the first year.
6. Spread a layer of compost or wood chips around the base.

Care

Watering

During dry spells in the first year; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

Not needed; a layer of compost in spring is enough. Too much fertiliser gives lots of leaves and few berries.

Mulching

Wood chips or compost suppress weeds under a young hedge.

Berries

Leave the berries on the shrub: they decorate the garden and feed birds in winter.

Hygiene

Disinfect your secateurs after cutting out diseased branches, especially if you suspect fireblight.

Tip: Let it keep its natural, arching shape and prune in March by removing whole branches rather than shearing: that way you keep both the flowers and the berries.

Willow-leaved cotoneaster: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March–April.

When: Prune only to keep it in shape, in March–April, before new growth starts.

How:

• Remove dead, damaged and crossing branches.
• Cut overlong branches back to a side branch or to the base, so that the arching shape is kept.
• Do not shear it into a tight shape: you would lose the flowers and berries.
• Rejuvenate an old, bare shrub by removing a third of the oldest stems at the base each year.

Caution: If you prune after flowering, you cut off this year’s berries.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Semi-ripe cuttings

In July–August: 10–15 cm cuttings with a heel, in moist cutting compost under plastic. They usually root well.

Layering

Especially in low forms, branches sometimes root by themselves where they touch the soil. You can also peg a low branch down under some soil and sever it after a year.

Willow-leaved cotoneaster: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

• Hardy to about −20 °C: no protection is needed in Belgium.
• In severe winters it may lose some of its leaves; it simply resprouts in spring.
• The berries often hang on until January or February, unless the birds eat them sooner.

Diseases and pests

• Fireblight: Flowers, leaves and young shoots suddenly wilt and turn brownish black, as if scorched; shoot tips bend over like a shepherd’s crook. Cut affected branches back 30–50 cm into healthy wood, disinfect your secateurs after every cut and dispose of the prunings with household waste.
• Aphids: On young shoots in spring. Ladybirds and birds usually deal with them.
• Scale insects: Small brown bumps on the stems and sticky leaves. Scrub them off with a brush or cut out badly affected stems.
• Bare base: Old shrubs become bare at the bottom. Rejuvenate them by removing old stems at the base.

Through the year

• January: Berries for the birds. Rest.
• March: Shaping prune and removal of dead wood.
• April: Prune if still needed. Plant. Apply compost.
• May: Plant. Watch for aphids.
• June: In flower: bees and bumblebees on the flowers. Watch for fireblight.
• July: Take semi-ripe cuttings.
• August: Take cuttings. Water young plants in dry spells.
• September: The berries turn red. Plant.
• October: Plant.
• December: Red berries in winter.

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?

• Salicifolius means ‘willow-leaved’, after its narrow leaves.
• The name Cotoneaster comes from the Latin ‘cotoneum’, quince, plus the suffix ‘-aster’, meaning ‘resembling, but not quite’.
• Botanically the berries are tiny apples: like apples and pears, cotoneaster belongs to the rose family.