Clusters of red-tinted white flowers in June, followed by bright orange-red autumn berries, and long, grey-green leaves. This splendid, semi-evergreen (or evergreen in milder, sheltered situations) cotoneaster is ideal for a shrub border with moderately fertile, well-drained soil. Erect in habit with spreading branches, its stems can be tied onto a support and grown as a wall shrub.
How to care for Cotoneaster franchetii:
Incorporate a quantity of well-rotted garden compost or horse manure in the planting hole to improve the moisture-retentive qualities the soil and a scoop of mycorrhizal fungi to aid root establishment. Prune back after flowering to strong buds or young lower branches. On older plants, cut back about a quarter of the old shoots to the base.
Eventual height:
4m
Eventual spread:
4m
Soil:
Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
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This shrub is semi-evergreen, so it can lose some of its leaves in winter. In colder regions or more exposed gardens, it may lose them all, but then fresh new foliage appears again in spring.
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Humans/Pets: Fruit are ornamental - not to be eaten