The stiff and dense branching gives the plant a bristly look.
The shrub grows best in full sun, well-drained soil, and thrives in low humidity.
Plant them in spring to allow their shallow root system to establish before the winter.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
The berries are toxic to humans and animals, although birds do fine with them.
Rockspray Cotoneaster Care
Here are the main care requirements for growing a rockspray cotoneaster shrub.
Light
Give rockspray cotoneaster full sun for optimal berry production and fall foliage color.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
Its main soil requirement is good drainage.
Water
Rock cotoneaster is adrought-tolerant shrubonce established.
But until it is established, water regularly to keep its soil evenly moist.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
Fertilizer
Rock cotoneaster is not a heavy feeder.
Addcompostto the soil as needed.
Within the rock cotoneaster species, there are two varieties to consider.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
And there is a cultivar, ‘Variegatus’, which has two-toned leaves.
This enables it to spread fairly rapidly.
Propagating Rockspray Cotoneaster
The easiest way to propagate this plant is bystem cuttings.
yilmazsavaskandag / Getty Images
The most serious insect pest is the cotoneaster webworm, which can skeletonize the leaves.
Webs will be visible on leaves and branches.
These pests are difficult to control, and usually require the tool of a chemical pesticide.
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Fire blight, leaf spots, and cankers may be problems.
Branches showing signs of fire blight or canker should be removed and destroyed.
Leaf spots may require treatment with a garden fungicide if the symptoms are severe.
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To encourage the most flowering and fruiting, rockspray cotoneaster will do best in full sun.
But there are a few problems to be on the lookout for, including the following.
You may also see oozing cankers.
If the entire shrub is dead, dig it out and discard.
horizontalisis one of the types of this plant that is a bit more resistant to fire blight.
Control scale withhorticultural oil.
Rockspray cotoneaster is easy to grow.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Red berries at this time of year.Veterinary Poisons Information Service.
Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States.
Cotoneaster.Connecticut State’s The Connecticut Agricultural Experimentation.
