Cotonwaster: how to grow the glorious winter berries

Cotoneasters are excellent berrying shrubs that deserve to be more widely grown. They are often unfairly categorized as boring car-park plants, thanks to the most well-known species, Cotoneaster horizontalis (wall spray), which sprawls across roundabouts and retail parks up and down the country. But beyond its ubiquitous blandness, there are more exciting cotoneasters that make superb garden plants.

Not only are these superior cotoneasters low-maintenance, they are a staple in the garden designer’s palette for their multi-season interest, wildlife appeal, and shape. They have lovely form when trained into spreading multi-stemmed trees, and, as such, make great specimens for the small garden. Many provide evergreen foliage (or semi-evergreen leaves with autumn colour), flowers in late spring or early summer, and a blazing mass of colourful berries that often last well into winter. These fruits, which the plants are best known for, are usually bright crimson or orange red, but there are also yellow, pink, plum, and black forms.

Red berries and leaves creating striking autumn color against the textured facade of a historic building. Cotswolds countryside, England

anneleven

The colourful berries of a cotoneaster hedge

Ralf Liebhold

Today, there are 259 known species of cotoneaster. But back in 1821, just four were known to British botanists and, as more began to arrive in the second half of the 19th century, they were quickly treasured for their fiery berries. The name cotoneaster was haloed in a way the plant can only dream of today, and, during the golden era of plant hunting at the beginning of the 20th century, collectors sought them out. Mancunian botanist Frank Kingdon-Ward brought back several species from trips to Tibet and Yunnan in China, where a huge number of cotoneasters grow wild in the stony soil of the Himalayas. In 1924, he described seeing C. conspicuus from the top of a cliff in Tibet, remarking that the plant resembled: ‘a bubbling red cauldron of berries.’

Cotoneaster’s native range stretches across subalpine and temperate Eurasia. In China, the leaves and fruit are used to make tea, and the wood is fashioned into walking sticks and other implements. While in Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, and Tibet, flavonoid-rich cotoneaster is employed in traditional medicine for fever, jaundice, and other conditions. The plant’s name comes from the Latin cotoneum (quince) and -aster (resembling) because its leaves are similar to the foliage of quince, which it is grouped with in the Amygdaloideae subfamily of the rose family (Rosaceae). Cotoneaster is also closely related to firethorn (Pyracantha) – another bulletproof evergreen. Once the birds have finished eating the firethorn fruit, they begin to take the cotoneaster berries, making these two unassuming shrubs essential plants for wildlife and colour late in the year.

Eurasion blue tit perched on a Cotoneaster branch

Jacky Parker Photography

Yes. Cotoneasters roar with happy bees on still, sunny days in early summer, when their nectar-laden pink or white blossom is flowering. These are mostly short-tongued bumblebees.

The flowers are followed by berries that are popular with birds, including fieldfares, blackbirds, and mistle thrushes. They favour the more common red forms, over other colours, and they won’t take them until the fruit is ripe, which can be January or February on a late-berrying form, in a cold winter.

Cotoneaster berries contain compounds called cyanogenic glycosides, meaning they are toxic to humans and dogs, so be careful when walking the dog and certainly don't forage any for your own dinner.

For a tree or large shrub with glowing-red berries, Cotoneaster ‘Cornubia’ (6-metres tall) is a great choice. For pale-yellow berries, ‘Rothschildianus’ is lovely, but vigorous, capable of over 6 metres. Both have semi-evergreen leaves, white flowers in early summer, and autumn fruit that often remains on the branches for months. Slightly smaller,  C. hualiensis (vivid-red fruit, dark-green leaves) and C. franchetii (orange-red fruit, grey-green leaves) are charming grown as 3-metre trees.

For a small to medium shrub, C. naoujanensis is a super 2-metre species with orange-red berries and glossy evergreen leaves. Many of the semi-evergreen forms produce beautiful autumn leaf colour, including C. splendens and C. cuspidatus (both 2-metres tall) and C. duthieanus (1-metre tall), which all have red fruit.

For ground cover or walls, the variegated form of C. horizontalis is better than the species (confusingly, it is known as C. atropurpureus ‘Variegatus’). C. x suecicus ‘Coral Beauty’ and C. astrophoros are also good choices.

Cotoneaster franchetii hedge in bloom

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Larger species – such as Cotoneaster lacteus and C. franchetii – make good tall hedges, even in exposed locations. C. lacteus has generous oval rich-green leaves and dense heads of white bloom, followed by handfuls of vermillion berries, while C. franchetii bears small sage-green leaves and June flowers that hum with bees, before orange-red fruit.

Yes, cotoneasters are resilient shrubs. Relishing very well-drained soils, once established, they cope well with drought. The medium to large species make great hedging plants, and those with downy leaves fare well with pollutants. Research by the RHS found that Cotoneaster franchetii was 20% more effective than other shrubs at trapping harmful pollutants in traffic-heavy areas.

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Five species are included in Schedule 9 of the UK’s Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: Cotoneaster horizontalis, C. integrifolius, C. simonsii, C. bullatus, and C. microphyllus. Because these non-native plants can be very invasive in the wild, they cannot be planted in the countryside. They can be grown in gardens, but if you live in (or adjacent to) the countryside, it is strongly advised that you don’t plant them, in case they spread.

Cotoneasters dislike heavy, moist ground or earth overlaid with woodchip. They are easy to grow in any soil with excellent drainage: from chalk to sand. Full sun is preferable for a good show of flowers and colourful fruit, but they will tolerate semi-shade. The majority also cope with exposed, coastal, and urban sites.

The sprawling smaller shrubs can be trained against or over walls, fences, and banks. They can be jarring against red brick and look better with stone. The small to medium-sized species (such as crimson-berried C. conspicuus) can be (gently) clipped into low hedges or amorphous mounds.

The large cotoneasters are excellent hedging plants, but they are at their most beautiful when trained as small specimen trees. The non-weeping forms arguably produce a better shape in this regard, eventually creating a cloud of leaves above multiple boles, and – when coated in a fiery mass of berries in autumn and winter – every visitor will want to know the name of the tree.

C. lacteus

JOSE LUIS VEGA GARCIA

Cotoneasters don’t need pruning; however, they’re tolerant of non-drastic cutting. Evergreen species and deciduous forms that flower early can be chopped back after flowering, if need be – aim to remove unruly growth, but leave the spent flowers to ensure berries. Deciduous shrubs that flower late ought to be trimmed, when necessary, in late winter or early spring. Hedges grown for berries (such as C. lacteus) should be given a haircut once the fruit is spent; otherwise, hedging can be trimmed in September, after the birds have fledged and flowering has finished. If you have a very overgrown specimen, cut it back gradually over 2 to 3 years, rather than a cathartic all-at-once chop, to ensure flowers and berries the following year.

Cotoneasters are not plagued by much, but the late-flowering evergreen forms can succumb to fireblight. If affected, parts may look dead or burnt. Remove these diseased parts, cutting 30 centimetres beyond the scorched-looking section, into healthy wood; then, disinfect your tools.

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