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Cotoneaster is an evergreen or deciduous shrub used in landscape design. Some species of this plant have edible fruits, but most of them are planted only for decorative purposes. Due to its undemanding nature in terms of growing conditions, longevity, ease of cultivation and attractive appearance, the shrub is widely used for decorating gardens, park areas, and also for strengthening bulk soil.
General description of cotoneaster
Translated from Latin, the name of this shrub means “reminiscent of quince.” Indeed, the leaves of some of its species have a certain resemblance to the fruits of this tree. The shrub is widespread not only in Eurasia, it is also found in North Africa.
Cotoneaster (pictured) is a low spreading or creeping non-thorny shrub. In favorable conditions, its lifespan can reach 50 years. It grows quite slowly, adding only a few centimeters per year. The leaves are small, green, usually shiny, turning red in autumn (in deciduous species). The flowers are small, solitary or collected in racemes, white or pink. Its fruits are small apples, most often inedible, red, less often black.
Over 200 species of cotoneaster are described in the scientific literature. Here are just a few of them:
- Common cotoneaster.
- Cotoneaster brilliant.
- Black cotoneaster.
- Dummer's cotoneaster and others.
The use of cotoneaster in landscape design
The cotoneaster bush is very unpretentious. It easily tolerates gas pollution, grows well on any soil, and is resistant to frost and drought. Most often it is used to decorate hedges, alleys, parks, and alpine slides. The root system of this plant is very close to the surface, so creeping species of this shrub are often planted on artificial embankments, solving the problem of strengthening the soil, and at the same time for decorating slopes.
In total, more than 80 species of this beautiful plant are used in landscape design. Among them there are erect, bushy and creeping species. Therefore, the scope of application of cotoneaster for decorative purposes is very wide.
Are cotoneaster berries edible or not?
Most cotoneaster species have inedible fruits.Only chokeberry cotoneaster can be eaten. They do not differ in any special taste and are more often used to prepare decoctions to treat the stomach. Dried chokeberry fruits are often added to tea, as they contain quite a lot of vitamins. They can be used as a coloring agent in the production of homemade tinctures or liqueurs.
Planting and caring for cotoneaster in open ground
Growing this ornamental shrub usually does not cause any trouble. It is planted with one-year or two-year-old seedlings. The best time for this is spring, before the growing season begins, or autumn, after the end of leaf fall.
Site selection and soil preparation
This ornamental shrub does not make any special demands on the place of growth and the nature of the soil. It is advisable that the place be sunny, then all its decorative properties will be fully manifested. The bushes are planted in single holes about half a meter deep. If a hedge of cotoneaster is created, planting is carried out in a ditch of the same depth. A drainage layer of broken brick or crushed stone is placed at the bottom, on top of which a layer of nutritious soil is poured from a mixture of turf soil, humus and peat in a ratio of 2:1:1.
Planting cotoneaster
The seedlings are placed vertically and covered with a layer of soil, periodically compacting it. The plant is buried to the level of the root collar, which should be at ground level. After planting, the root zone should be watered abundantly.
A video about planting cotoneaster can be viewed at the link below.
What can be planted next to cotoneaster
This plant is not an antagonist and gets along well with all its neighbors.It looks good next to low coniferous trees, and flower beds can be placed next to it. Shrubs can be planted in groups or individually, giving them shape by pruning and using them as architectural accents. The photo below shows a cotoneaster hedge.
Slate species are often used as artificial turf, hiding uneven terrain underneath.
Growing and caring for cotoneaster
Caring for a planted cotoneaster will not cause any difficulties. Often the only activity that is carried out with the bush is its cutting or pruning to maintain its decorative shape.
How to water cotoneaster
For normal development and growth, plants usually have enough precipitation. Bushes are usually watered with a hose or sprinkler to wash away dust from the leaves. Especially it concerns busheslocated along busy streets. If the summer is very dry, you can water it generously once a month.
Feeding cotoneaster
Most gardeners consider feeding cotoneaster optional. However, when growing on poor soils, it is worth feeding the shrubs at least once a season. This is best done in the spring by adding a urea solution (25 g per 10 liters of water) to the root zone, and later, before flowering, superphosphate and any potassium fertilizer (60 and 15 g per 1 square meter, respectively). In autumn, the root zone is mulched with peat, which also serves as a kind of feeding.
Pruning cotoneaster
For sanitary and rejuvenating purposes, cotoneaster is pruned in the spring, before the beginning of the growing season. The shrub tolerates this procedure well and, as a rule, no problems arise after it.
You can trim the bush for decorative purposes, trimming the crown in the form of various shapes, at any time of the year, except winter.
Preparing cotoneaster for winter
Cotoneaster is a frost-resistant plant and tolerates cold well. There is no need for special preparation for winter; usually, simply mulching the root zone with a layer of peat 8–10 cm thick is sufficient. In regions with significant frosts and lack of snow cover, it is recommended to bend the bushes to the ground and fix them in this position, and then cover them with fallen leaves.
Diseases and pests of cotoneaster
Cotoneaster bushes are quite rarely affected by both pests and various diseases. The greatest danger to plantings can be fusarium, a fungus that develops in conditions of high humidity. They fight it by removing the affected parts of the plant, as well as spraying the bush with systemic fungicides.
The most common pests that appear on cotoneaster are:
- Aphid.
- Spider mite.
- Shield.
They fight pests by spraying the bushes with special preparations:
- Fitoverm.
- Karbofos.
- Decis.
- Aktelik.
Pest control can be done several times per season. The first time spraying is carried out after the buds swell, the second time after flowering and the third time after another two weeks. This is an exception rather than a rule. Pests appear on this plant quite infrequently, and in most cases one treatment is quite sufficient.
How to propagate cotoneaster
Cotoneaster reproduces well by all methods characteristic of shrubs. It can be propagated:
- seeds;
- cuttings;
- layering;
- dividing the bush.
For varietal cotoneaster species, grafting can be used.
Cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is a simple and reliable way to obtain cotoneaster seedlings. This procedure is best carried out in late June - early July. To harvest green cuttings, use the central part of an annual shoot. The cut cuttings are freed from leaves by about 1/3, then kept in a root formation stimulator solution for 6 hours.
After this, they are planted at an angle in containers filled with a nutrient substrate - a mixture of peat and river sand. The container with the cuttings is watered and covered with film, providing the cuttings with greenhouse conditions. This mini-greenhouse needs to be ventilated regularly. As a rule, the percentage of rooting of green cuttings planted in this way is very high. After a year, when the root system has developed sufficiently, the seedlings can be planted in a permanent place.
By layering
Layerings from the mother bush, especially on creeping shrubs, can form without human intervention. Often branches in contact with the soil take root on their own.
It is quite simple to obtain full-fledged layering artificially. To do this, the outer shoots are simply fixed to the ground with an iron bracket and covered with humus on top. The soil in this place must be moistened regularly. After a few weeks, the pressed stem will take root and begin to form independent shoots. Then the cuttings are separated from the mother bush and transferred to the permanent planting site.
Seeds
Propagation by seeds is a rather lengthy method, and it is usually used only by breeders involved in developing new varieties. Getting a seedling from a seed is quite difficult. The seeds of this plant do not have good germination, and the seedlings are weak and often die.It usually takes about 3–4 years before full-fledged seedlings are formed and transplanted to a permanent place.
The seeds are removed from the fruit, washed and sorted. At the initial stage, you can cull them by immersing them in water. Those that remain on the surface are empty and are immediately discarded. The seeds are then stratified. To do this, they are kept for two months at a temperature of +30°C, and then slowly lowered to -5°C. Prepared seeds are sown in nutrient soil in the fall, watered and placed under film.
Dividing the bush
The method of dividing the bush is simple and effective. It is used when transplanting adult bushes or if the bush has grown greatly. In this case, part of the root along with the shoots is cut off from the main rhizome and transplanted to another place. This procedure can be carried out both in the spring, before the beginning of the growing season, and in the fall, after the leaves have fallen.
Cotoneaster transplant
This is one of the few shrubs that can be transplanted from place to place at any time of the year without any problems. It is better to replant cotoneaster in the fall or spring, while the plant is dormant. Its roots are located quite close to the surface, so removing the bush from the ground is usually not difficult. It is better to transfer it to another place together with a lump of earth on the roots; this will significantly reduce the time of adaptation of the bush in a new place.
Conclusion
Cotoneaster rightfully takes its place among the most common shrubs used in landscape design. The quantity and variety of its types allows it to be used in a wide variety of places, from gardening areas to the design of alpine slides. And its low maintenance requirements make it a truly universal plant that even the most inexperienced gardener can grow.
