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Cotoneaster

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  • Thank you @AnniD, it looks really lovely as a hedge in the photo you showed. Maybe I can find a space to grow a small hedge too!
    Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus 
  • @Pete.8 Thank you @pete.8 . Franchetti gets another vote! Would you say it would look ok if not grown as a hedge, or would it look very strange please?

    I had better give Lacteus a miss.

    Got what I think is Cotoneaster franchetii growing in a few places in the garden as it does seem to set its own seed in places with the help of the birds. The single specimens that I have not trimmed seem to grow wider rather than directly upwards with one I just checked there having a spread of about 4metres and a height of about 3metres. I wouldn't say it looks strange but not a picture of a tightly trimmed tidy shrub as it has not been trimmed much at all. Just about to go out now and trim one that is stretching too far over a young Mahonia. Trimming just seems to encourage them to come back stronger.

    I also have another more deciduous Cotoneaster that self seeds about the place and has a bigger more pointy leaf and is more tree like in its growth pattern. Its leaves have a great red colour at the moment while the C. franchetii only drops some of its leaves and these are a mixture of yellow and reds with some plants having more red than some of the other ones for some reason. I think they are a great type of plant for supporting wildlife but for some reason I dislike the very small leaved varieties.

    Happy gardening!
  • Thank you, @robairdmacraignil, that is helpful of you. Those bird-set Cotoneasters sound as though they are forming hedge shapes of their own accord (wider than tall). It is good that your more deciduous trees type Cotoneaster still has autumnal-coloured leaves. 

    It is reassuring to know of their natural habit, as I wish to 'go with nature' while not having a vast space. I did think of Pyracantha too but the spikiness put me off. 

    Your garden must be teeming with birds and bees etc! 
    Sorry to witness the demise of the forum. 😥😥😥😡😡😡I am Spartacus 
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