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The brilliant cotoneaster is one of the varieties of the famous ornamental shrub, which is widely used in landscape design. It creates hedges, evergreen sculptures and decorates unsightly areas of land.
Description of the brilliant cotoneaster
The brilliant cotoneaster is a bush that belongs to the Pink family and serves as an adornment of many garden and park areas, as well as private estates. In appearance, it is a shrub with rich foliage. The shrub is deciduous, which means it loses its leaves for the winter.
The shape of the leaf is oval, with a slight taper at the end. The leaves are small in size - about 4 cm. The surface of the leaf is smooth on both sides and in color changes from light green to juicy green, depending on the season and conditions of keeping.
In autumn, a characteristic feature of the shrub is a change in the color of the leaves from green to purple. This gives the shrub a pleasant look, and the whole area has autumn warmth.
In the wild, this type of cotoneaster practically does not occur. It is rare and listed in the Red Book. Eastern Siberia is considered the birthplace of the brilliant cotoneaster. It is edible, but it is not widely used in cooking, since the fruit does not have a specific taste.
Planting and caring for a brilliant cotoneaster
With proper care, a hedge cotoneaster can grow in one place for up to 50 years. It is a natural long-liver. For planting shrubs, it is better to choose a lighted place, but partial shade is also suitable. The main conditions for choosing a site are deep groundwater and the absence of strong winds.
Site selection and soil preparation
It is not recommended to choose a place in the shade, where the shrub will be uncomfortable, and it will not be able to form a lush hedge. The landing site should be sufficiently lit and, at the same time, hidden from strong winds, since the cotoneaster is shiny, regardless of the landing pattern, does not tolerate windy weather.
The time for planting is chosen both in the spring and in the fall. In any of these seasons, the hedge will perfectly take root and delight with its beauty.
Cotoneaster is an unpretentious plant, but the creation of fertile soil with a normal nutrient medium is mandatory when planting. To do this, be sure to mix 2 parts of sand, the same amount of sod land with one part of compost. The latter can be easily replaced with peat. Add lime to this at the rate of 300 grams per square meter of land.
The depth of the pit for planting a shiny cotoneaster should be about 70 cm. Since the cotoneaster does not like excess moisture, you should take care of good drainage. The drainage layer is created from broken red bricks and pebbles. Drainage layer - 20 cm.
How to plant a shiny cotoneaster for a hedge
After that, the seedling is lowered into the pit and dripped with a fertile mixture. Each layer is tamped a little. The root collar of the seedling should be flush with the surface. After planting, the seedling is watered and then mulched with peat. Mulch layer - 6-7 cm.
For a hedge, seedlings are located on both sides, and the distance between them is up to 30 cm.
Rules for caring for a brilliant cotoneaster
To care for the shrub, watering, pruning and feeding is necessary. If you do everything right, then there will be no difficulties in leaving.
Since the cotoneaster does not like moisture, it is recommended to water it no more than once every 14 days, and this is provided there is no rain at all. Pour a bucket of water under each bush, after which the soil must be loosened. If the summer is rainy, then watering the bush is not required. It is a drought tolerant plant that thrives on a slightly below normal humidity.
But it is also necessary to wash off dust and plaque from the bush with a stream of water, even if the plant is not watered.
Shearing cotoneaster brilliant
This shrub is fast growing. Therefore, it is necessary to cut a shiny cotoneaster regularly, this is the basis for proper care and the formation of a hedge. Dry, painful, and damaged branches must be cut in any season. This is the so-called sanitary pruning.
Formative pruning is done in the spring prior to the start of the growing season. If desired by the owner, the shrub can be given any shape. With formative pruning, it is advisable to ensure that the shrub loses no more than a third of its shoots.
How to feed a brilliant cotoneaster
You need to feed the plant in early spring. This will require 25 grams of urea per bucket of water. In this case, fertilizer is applied to the root zone at the rate of a bucket of water per square meter. Before flowering, the shrub will also need top dressing. You need to take 15 grams of potassium sulfide and 60 grams of superphosphate. Top dressing ends in August, because otherwise the brilliant cotoneaster will not have time to prepare for winter.
The shrub also responds well to organic fertilizers. To do this, it is necessary to water the root zone with a solution of chicken manure in a ratio of 1:10 once a year.
Preparing a shrub for winter
To prepare the shrub for winter, it is enough to carry out sanitary pruning, and also stop feeding in August. The cotoneaster is shiny, which looks great in the photo, it tolerates frost well, and therefore there is no need to cover it.
Reproduction of the brilliant cotoneaster
The shrub reproduces in several ways, each of which is quite effective. Every gardener will be able to choose the best option for himself and make his garden plot a real object of design art. Brilliant cotoneaster allows reproduction by cuttings, layering, and also seeds.
Cuttings
One of the most reliable breeding methods. Cuttings can be either green or lignified, 15 cm long. Shoots that are cut off during formative pruning are excellent. They must be healthy and have at least two internodes. In the spring, before planting, cuttings should be placed in growth stimulants for several hours.
After that, the cuttings should be planted in a prepared soil mixture, which consists of humus, sand and turf in equal amounts. It is necessary to plant at an angle of 45 °. From above, the future cotoneaster is covered with a glass jar, which is removed every day to ventilate the cutting. So the seedling lives until autumn, takes root, and after that it is calmly planted in a permanent place. The first year before winter, cuttings are covered with coniferous branches or leaves.
Layers
If the shrub has shoots that hang no more than 10–12 cm above the ground, then the shrub can be propagated by layering. To do this, bend the shoot to the ground and pin it, after which it is mandatory to sprinkle it with a nutritious soil mixture. In the fall, when the cuttings take root, they can be separated from the main shrub and transplanted to a permanent place.
Seeds
Seed propagation is a less efficient method, since cotoneaster seeds have a low germination rate. The algorithm of actions, if you have a hedge from a brilliant cotoneaster, does not seem complicated:
- Collect the fruits.
- Select seeds, remove pulp and dry.
- Soak before sowing. Those that surfaced are thrown out.
- Sow the remaining seeds at a distance of up to 15 cm from each other and to a depth of 4 cm.
- The first shoots can break through for a long time, up to a year after sowing.
- After germination during the first year, the shoots are extended up to 30 cm in height.
- After another year, the plant begins to form a crown.
Cotoneaster brilliant in landscape design
The cotoneaster, brilliant in landscape design, not only looks gorgeous in the photo, but therefore is a favorite plant among decor lovers. How shrubs are used in landscape design:
- The brilliant cotoneaster is often used as a hedge.
- They give various shapes, ranging from simple balls to a wide variety of geometric shapes.
- Single plantings are planted against the background of the main lawn.
- Used in compositions with other plants, evergreen and deciduous.
The use of a shrub is very wide, it all depends on the imagination and taste of the designer.
Pests and diseases of the brilliant cotoneaster
The plant is resistant to most diseases and pests. But it also has its own characteristic problems. Due to excessive moisture, the shrub can be exposed to fusarium. If such a pathology is found, it is necessary to cut out all diseased shoots and destroy them, otherwise the shrub may die.
Typical pests for shrubs:
- Mole. To combat the pest, insecticides are used.
- Spider mite. The most common cotoneaster pest.
- Aphid. It is easy to spot by the wrinkled leaves of the bush.
In any case, at the first signs of damage, you need to use insecticides, in the early stages or for prevention, a solution of tobacco or other folk recipes is perfect.
Conclusion
The brilliant cotoneaster is rare in the wild, since the seeds have a low germination rate. But in landscape design, the shrub has long taken the honorable place of a universal plant, which is found in rock gardens, and in hedges, and in single sculptures.
