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Cotoneaster root rot or end of lifespan
katmcconachy
Posts: 2
I am very very new to gardening and we have inherited a huge cotoneaster that hasn' been looked after. I know from neighbours it's approx 15/20 years old possibly. The problem we have is, there are huge areas where there is no growth no leaves no berries nothing. U-pon investigating we have seen that the root balls seem to be rotting. Could this be a fungal thing and therefore just rip it out and replace with something unrelated, could it be age related and we can rip out and start again with another cotoneaster or should we just wait and see what happens. It's had a colossal trimming but the gardener said he noticed many branches that had shootnthat were both dead and alive.
Last edited: 05 February 2018 12:43:50
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Posts
It's hard to say if planting another Cotoneaster there would be safe. It's not clear what caused the rotting. Sometimes,they are symptoms of fire blight or even Honey Fungus. Take a look at the branches and trunk, are there areas of oozing/weeping? The shrub does sound like it's on its last legs though. If you want, you can post a few photos. It's hard to say if you have a shrub that is at the end of its life or just neglected at this stage in time.
I keep trying to load picture and it' not working. The bark is flaky rather than weepy and the stems root just come out of the ground
Katmcconachy, not sure if there is an issue with loading, but try reducing the size when loading if it doesn't work.
If it doesn't work, I suggest you look into Phytophthora root rot. It does sound like that is what your shrub may be suffering from. You mentioned some branches dying and some still alive. These are signs of root issues. Either way, if you have investigated and can see clear signs of rot, it's probably been there for a while and very unlikely your shrub can recover from it. If you do take out your shrub, make sure you remove as much surrounding soil as possible.
Last edited: 07 February 2018 17:05:48