Wallspray Cotoneaster Hedge Plants

Cotoneaster horizontalis

Wallspray, or Rockspray, Cotoneaster is a low-growing groundcover shrub with architectural branches that arch up and fall, then span out in a shapely herringbone pattern to create a dense mound. Its strong, long, branched stems are peppered with tiny round glossy leaves that, come autumn, turn to red and pink tones that mingle prettily with its bright red berries, which it often carries well into the new year. As a bonus, it has delicate little white flowers in late spring. It's also hugely popular with wildlife: birds love the berries, bees love the flowers, and all kinds of creatures take advantage of its tough cover for shelter. It's a bit too short to make a proper hedge. Browse the other shrubs in our hedging range. However, it can be grown up to waist height and it is ideal for growing along the bottom of walls or as cover for verges and banks. 

Take cover

Cotoneaster is average in its growth rate, and although some complain of its propensity for self seeding, the seedlings aren't hard to grub out, and if you want it to, you can leave it to take over in cracks in walls and paving to create a carpet of colour and structure that's super tough, hardy and wonderfully cheery in the autumn and winter months, softening walls, rock gardens and terraces to wonderful effect. They cope with hard pruning if needed, and any kind of soil, including chalk. The only thing it really won't tolerate is boggy conditions. Combine it with climbers, if you like, to weave in extra colour. A shorter clematis such as Clematis alpina Frances Rivis would do well in a semi-shaded spot, tangling itself up and through the branches of the cotoneaster.

Features

• Size: to 1.5m, taller in a sunny spot
• Soil: any
• Use: as a low hedge or ground cover
• Single row: 3
• Double row:
• Colour: green, red and pink in autumn
• Feature: scarlet autumn berries
• Flowering: May
• Berries: November to January

Growing Cotoneaster horizontalis plants:
Cotoneaster is happy in most soils, including chalk, and it tolerates shade. It does not like waterlogged conditions. It will grow near to the coast, as long as the soil is fertile.

After you have planted your Cotoneaster horizontalis hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Trimming Formal hedge plants:
Cotoneaster horizontalis is naturally bushy, so it doesn't need any clipping at all in its first year. In the winter of the year after planting, your young hedge should be trimmed once, lightly, and then every winter after that until it is mature.
When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime. A good time to trim your hedge is after the berries fall or lose their appeal in winter.

Special notes on caring for Cotoneaster horizontalis hedges:
Cotoneaster horizontalis is a tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.

Did You Know?

This Chinese plant was brought to Europe in the 1870s by a French missionary. Its 'berries' are pomes, a fruit with a core and/or central seed and edible skin, so more like an apple than a berry.