Contents
Cotoneaster brilliant is one of the varieties of the well-known ornamental shrub, which is widely used in landscape design. With its help, hedges are created, evergreen sculptures and unsightly plots of land are decorated.
Description of cotoneaster brilliant
Cotoneaster brilliant – a bush, 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.
Leaf shape – oval, with a slight sharpening at the end. The leaves are small in size – about 4 cm. The surface of the sheet is smooth on both sides and varies in color from light green to juicy green, depending on the season and conditions.
In autumn, a characteristic feature of the shrub is the change in color of the leaves from green to purple. This gives the shrub a pleasant look, and the entire area has autumn warmth.
In the wild, this type of cotoneaster is practically not found. It is rare and listed in the Red Book. Eastern Siberia is considered the homeland of brilliant cotoneaster. It is edible, but not widely used in cooking, because the fruit does not have a specific taste.
Planting and caring for brilliant cotoneaster
With proper care, the cotoneaster, shining like a hedge, can grow up to 50 years in one place. This is a natural longevity. For planting shrubs, it is better to choose a lit place, but partial shade is also suitable. The main conditions for choosing a place are the deep occurrence of groundwater and the absence of strong winds.
Site selection and preparation of soil
It is not recommended to choose a place in the shade, where the bush will be uncomfortable, and it will not be able to form a lush hedge. The landing site should be sufficiently illuminated and at the same time hidden from strong winds, since the brilliant cotoneaster, regardless of the landing pattern, does not tolerate windy weather.
The time for planting is chosen both in spring and autumn. In any of these seasons, the hedge will take root perfectly and will delight with its beauty.
Cotoneaster is an unpretentious plant, but the creation of fertile soil with a normal nutrient medium during planting is necessary. 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 completely replaced with peat. Add lime here at the rate of 300 grams per square meter of land.
The depth of the pit for planting a brilliant cotoneaster should be about 70 cm. Since the cotoneaster does not like excess moisture, you should take care of high-quality drainage. The drainage layer is created from broken red brick, as well as pebbles. Drainage layer – 20 cm.
How to plant brilliant cotoneaster for hedges
After that, the seedling is lowered into the pit and added dropwise with a fertile mixture. Each layer is slightly tamped. The root neck 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 hedges, seedlings are located on both sides, and the distance between them is up to 30 cm.
Rules for caring for cotoneaster brilliant
Shrub care requires watering, pruning and top dressing. If you do everything right, then there will be no difficulties in care.
Since cotoneaster does not like moisture, it is recommended to water it no more than once every 14 days, and this is subject to the complete absence of rain. Under each bush, it is necessary to pour a bucket of water, 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 if the humidity is just below normal.
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.
Shiny cotoneaster haircut
This shrub is fast growing. Therefore, it is necessary to cut the brilliant cotoneaster regularly, this is the basis for proper care and the formation of a hedge. Dry, diseased and damaged branches must be cut in any season. This is the so-called sanitary pruning.
Formative pruning is carried out in the spring before the beginning of the vegetative period. At the request of 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 cotoneaster brilliant
Feed the plant in early spring. To do this, you need 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. It is necessary 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.
Shrubs also respond well to organic fertilizers. To do this, it is necessary to water the root zone once a year with a solution of chicken manure in a ratio of 1:10.
Preparing the shrub for winter
To prepare the shrub for winter, it is enough to carry out sanitary pruning, as well as stop feeding in August. The cotoneaster is brilliant, which looks great in the photo, tolerates frost well, and therefore there is no need to cover it.
Reproduction of cotoneaster brilliant
The shrub propagates in several ways, each of which is quite effective. Each gardener will be able to choose the best option for himself and make his garden plot a real object of design art. Cotoneaster brilliant allows reproduction by cuttings, layering, as well as seeds.
Cuttings
One of the most reliable breeding methods. Cuttings can be either green or lignified, 15 cm long. Shoots that are cut during formative pruning are excellent. They must be healthy and have at least two internodes. In the spring, before planting, the cuttings should be placed in growth stimulants for several hours.
After that, the cuttings should be planted in the prepared soil mixture, which consists of humus, sand and turf in equal amounts. Planting must be at an angle of 45 °. From above, the future cotoneaster is covered with a glass jar, which is removed every day to air the stalk. So the seedling survives until autumn, takes root, and after that it is calmly planted in a permanent place. The first year before winter, the 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 nutrient soil mixture. In autumn, when the cuttings take root, they can be separated from the main shrub and transplanted to a permanent place.
Seeds
Propagation by seeds is a less effective method, since cotoneaster seeds have a low germination rate. The algorithm of actions, if you have a shiny cotoneaster hedge, does not seem complicated:
- Collect fruits.
- Select the seeds, free them from the pulp and dry.
- Soak before sowing. Throw out the ones that pop up.
- Sow the remaining seeds at a distance of up to 15 cm from each other and at a depth of 4 cm.
- The first sprouts can break through for a long time, up to a year after sowing.
- After germination during the first year, the sprouts stretch up to 30 cm in height.
- A year later, the plant begins to form a crown.
Cotoneaster brilliant in landscape design
Cotoneaster brilliant in landscape design not only looks chic in the photo, but because it is a favorite plant among decor lovers. How shrubs are used in landscape design:
- Cotoneaster brilliant 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.
- Use in compositions with other plants, evergreen and deciduous.
The use of shrubs is very wide, it all depends on the imagination and taste of the designer.
Pests and diseases of cotoneaster brilliant
The plant is resistant to most diseases and pests. But it also has its own characteristic problems. Due to excessive moisture, the shrub may be subject to Fusarium. If such a pathology is detected, it is necessary to cut out all diseased shoots and destroy them, otherwise the shrub may die.
Typical pests for shrubs:
- Moth. Insecticides are used to control the pest.
- Spider mite. The most common cotoneaster pest.
- Aphid. It is easy to detect by wrinkled leaves of a shrub.
In any case, at the first signs of damage, insecticides should be used; in the early stages or for prevention, a tobacco solution or other folk recipes are perfect.
Conclusion
Cotoneaster brilliant in the wild is rare, because the seeds have a low percentage of germination. 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.
