Cotoneaster Simonsii (Himalayan Cotoneaster)

Another tough customer with its origins in Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim: this plant is oh-so hardy. An upright shrub to 2 x 2 metres over 20 years, it is smothered in small pinky-white flowers in spring. These are followed by brilliantly-scarlet berries which birds adore.

A nice delicately-leaved upright Cotoneaster which makes super hedges and boundaries, being thick as thatch and very happy to be clipped and shaped. Some fun might be had with creative pruning and poodling and they lend themselves to the usual rolling curves and rounded forms very gracefully.

Its main use is as a marvellous backdrop or hedging shrub: used to define boundaries or build those areas of shelter and shade which are vital in any garden design. What’s especially great about ‘simonsii’ is that it won’t do anything alarming or fast. Your hedge will stay a hedge, by which we mean unlike some thuggish hedging plants if you turn your back on it for a bit you won’t suddenly find yourself paying a handsome prince with a big chopper half your kingdom in order to escape.

Be sure to administer any haircuts during the later stages of winter so as not to interfere with blooming and berrying. It is semi-evergreen, which is a bit vague, but its form remains solid and a spattering of leaves may turn red before falling in the autumn so it’s pretty, too. 

Can manage on an exposed or sheltered site and on any well drained soil, in any aspect but best in full sun.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well-watered when first planted.