Shrub
How to grow cotoneaster
Cotoneaster horizontalis, C. franchetii and others
Cotoneaster grows on any soil that drains, in sun or part shade, and thrives on neglect. Plant between October and March. The decision that matters is the species, because they range from ground-hugging mats to 6 m trees: Cotoneaster dammeri for ground cover, C. horizontalis for a wall, C. franchetii or C. lacteus for a hedge. Once established it needs no feeding and very little pruning.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to part shade
- Soil
- Most soils; free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.5
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting cotoneaster
WhenPlant Oct to Mar; flowers May to Jun; berries Sep to Jan
Starting off
Plant bare-root hedging Nov to Mar, or pot-grown stock Oct to Mar; all forms are tough and establish fast. Propagate deciduous types by 20 cm hardwood cuttings in Nov in a trench, evergreens by 10 cm semi-ripe cuttings with a heel in Aug to Sep. Birds sow it everywhere; self-sown C. horizontalis seedlings are easily lifted in Mar. Note that C. horizontalis is listed under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, so it must not be allowed to spread into the wild.
Spacing and planting
Prostrate C. horizontalis and C. dammeri spread 1.5 to 2 m but stay under 1 m tall; C. franchetii and C. lacteus make 3 m by 3 m shrubs; tree form C. 'Cornubia' reaches 6 m. Ground cover at 1 m spacing, hedging C. franchetii or C. lacteus at 45 to 60 cm in a single row, specimens 2 to 3 m apart. C. horizontalis and C. dammeri suit a 40 cm pot or trough.
Varieties worth growing
- C. horizontalis
- Deciduous, with flat herringbone branches that fan up a wall or over a bank unaided. Red berries and red autumn leaf. Listed on Schedule 9, so keep it in the garden and bin unwanted seedlings.
- C. franchetii
- Semi-evergreen with sage-green leaves, grey beneath, and orange-red berries. Arching growth that makes a soft, quick hedge to 2 m.
- C. lacteus
- Evergreen with leathery dark leaves and large clusters of red berries that ripen late and last past Christmas. The best cotoneaster for a tall screen.
- C. × suecicus 'Coral Beauty'
- Evergreen ground cover under 1 m high and about 2 m across, with orange berries. Covers a bank and smothers weeds.
- C. 'Cornubia'
- Semi-evergreen small tree to 6 m, weighed down with bunches of red berries in autumn. A good tree for a small garden.
Cotoneaster month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Birds finish the last berries. Nothing to do.
- February
Trim deciduous C. horizontalis to shape before the leaves open.
- March
Tie in and tidy wall-trained plants. Renovate overgrown shrubs. Lift self-sown seedlings and bin the ones you do not want.
- April
Light trim of evergreens if they need it. Plant pot-grown stock.
- May
Flowering starts. Watch for webbing caterpillars.
- June
In full flower and covered in bees. Watch for fireblight.
- July
Nothing to do. Water plants in their first summer in drought.
- August
Clip hedges of C. franchetii and C. lacteus once, cutting above the berry clusters. Semi-ripe cuttings of evergreens.
- September
Berries colour.
- October
Autumn colour on C. horizontalis. Planting season opens.
- November
Plant bare-root hedging. Hardwood cuttings of deciduous kinds.
- December
C. lacteus berries at their best. Nothing to do.
Feeding cotoneaster
A light feeder that needs no fertiliser in the ground. The only cotoneasters worth feeding are those in pots and troughs.
Low, very tough; little feeding needed.
Feeding plan
At planting, October to March
Optional, most use on poor or builder's soil. 5 g per litre of root ball: 10 g for a 2 litre pot, 15 g for a 3 litre pot; for bare-root hedging 2.5 g per plant (about half a litre of root), dusted onto damp roots. Once only.
First two springs
Garden compost
A 5 cm mulch around new plants to keep weeds down and moisture in while they root out. No fertiliser.
March, plants in pots and troughs
2 g per litre of compost on the surface, once a year: 50 g for a 40 cm pot holding about 25 litres.
Established plants in the ground
Nothing
No feed at all. Feeding only produces long leafy shoots that need pruning and carry fewer berries.
Signs to watch
Yellow leaves with green veins on new growth on chalk → iron lock-out, uncommon but seen on C. horizontalis in shallow limestone → chelated iron and a compost mulch. Few berries on an otherwise healthy plant → shade or clipping in late spring removing the flowers → trim only in Aug or straight after flowering, give full sun. Red-purple leaf tints in Nov are normal autumn colour, not a phosphorus s
Pests, diseases and problems
Blossom and shoot tips wilt and brown as if scorched in early summer, with the dead leaves hanging on
Fireblight, a bacterial disease to which cotoneaster is very prone
Cut affected branches out at least 30 cm below the dead wood, 60 cm on larger branches, disinfecting the blades between cuts. Bin or burn the prunings.
Silk webbing over the shoots in May and June, with leaves inside it brown and skeletonised
Cotoneaster webber and hawthorn webber moth caterpillars, commonest on C. horizontalis
Prune out the webbed shoots or pull the webbing apart so birds can reach the caterpillars. The plant recovers.
White fluffy wax on stems and in bark crevices, with soft lumpy swellings
Woolly aphid
Scrub off with a stiff brush on small plants. Cut out badly galled branches in winter.
The shrub dies suddenly in leaf, or a branch at a time over a year or two
Honey fungus; check for a white, mushroom-smelling sheet of fungus under the bark at soil level
Remove the plant with as much root as possible and do not replant cotoneaster there. Yew and box are rarely attacked.
Brown shell-like bumps on the stems and a black sooty film on the leaves
Brown scale; sooty mould grows on its honeydew
Prune out the worst shoots. Light attacks are kept in check by parasitic wasps and can be left.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Needs little pruning: deciduous C. horizontalis is trimmed to shape in Feb to Mar, evergreens in Apr or after flowering, and hedges of C. lacteus or C. franchetii clipped once in Aug so the berries are kept. Wall-trained C. horizontalis is tied to wires with the herringbone branches flat, and forward-growing shoots cut back to 2 buds in Mar. Renovates well to 30 cm in Mar. No staking or winter protec
Good to knowBerries feed birds; ground-cover, wall and tree forms exist.
Growing cotoneaster in pots
The prostrate kinds are good in containers: C. dammeri, 'Coral Beauty' or C. horizontalis in a 40 cm pot or a trough, where the branches trail over the edge. Use loam-based compost with a fifth of grit, stand in sun, and water when the top few centimetres are dry. One light feed in March is enough. The big shrubby species and 'Cornubia' belong in the ground.
Cotoneaster: common questions
Is cotoneaster invasive in the UK?
Five species are listed as invasive on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, including Cotoneaster horizontalis, C. simonsii and C. microphyllus. It is legal to grow them in a garden, but an offence to plant them or cause them to spread in the wild, so pull unwanted seedlings and never dump prunings. C. franchetii, C. lacteus and C. dammeri are not on the list.
When should I prune cotoneaster?
Prune deciduous cotoneasters in February or March and evergreens lightly in April or after flowering. Clip hedges once in August, cutting just above the berry clusters. Most cotoneasters need very little pruning beyond removing wayward shoots.
Is cotoneaster good for bees and birds?
Yes, it is one of the best garden shrubs for both. The small flowers in May and June are packed with nectar and draw bees in large numbers, and blackbirds, thrushes and winter visitors such as waxwings eat the berries from autumn onwards.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.