Hedge cotoneaster
Cotoneaster lucidus · Rosaceae
An upright shrub with glossy, dark green leaves that turn fiery orange and red in autumn, and black berries.
- Size
- 8 ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers late May to early June
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around hedge cotoneaster
The planner designed this bed around hedge cotoneaster when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why hedge cotoneaster stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Hedge cotoneaster × 1, dark green leaves
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, white
- 3 Leadwort × 19, blue
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Beardtongue 'Husker Red' × 3, white
- 6 Calamint × 3, white
- 7 Allium 'Gladiator' × 1, purple
- 8 Tulip 'Apeldoorn' × 5, red
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 8 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to beardtongue 'Husker Red' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, spring to frost. They cover the 16 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, leadwort and sea thrift. White runs through the planting: 3 of the 7 kinds grown for their flowers have it.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 6 Good, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 10 in at the front, 22 in in the middle and 4 ft at the back. Along the back row the heights step up and down, between 2½ ft and 8 ft, and no two neighbours are the same height. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where hedge cotoneaster goes in a border
At 8 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
The standard clipped hedge of the Canadian prairies and the northern plains, where boxwood and privet are not hardy. It takes hard shearing.
- Clipped hedges in cold climates
- Autumn colour
- Screens
What to plant with hedge cotoneaster
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Shrubby cinquefoil: adds the flowers, early June to mid September; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Common lilac: adds the flowers, early May to late May.
- Mugo pine: low enough (5 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about hedge cotoneaster
Does hedge cotoneaster need sun or shade?
Hedge cotoneaster grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does hedge cotoneaster grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should hedge cotoneaster be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 8 ft (250 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many hedge cotoneaster plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, planted singly: it is the bed's structure, and everything else is arranged around it.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
What does hedge cotoneaster look like in winter?
Hedge cotoneaster drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Cotoneaster
- Bearberry cotoneaster Cotoneaster dammeri
- Cotoneaster 'Coral Beauty' Cotoneaster dammeri 'Coral Beauty'
- Cranberry cotoneaster Cotoneaster apiculatus
- Rockspray cotoneaster Cotoneaster horizontalis
- Willowleaf cotoneaster 'Scarlet Leader' Cotoneaster salicifolius 'Scarlet Leader'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 8 ft (250 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to early June; open bowls; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.