Cotoneaster X Suecicus ‘Skogholm’

A hardy, prostrate evergreen shrub with abundant white flowers which are minute but extremely pretty up-close. These are followed by crimson berries a-plenty. It grows to only 0.8metres in height but could spread up to 3m (and that’s conservative) over 10 years.

Spreads far, spreads wide. Smothers all in its path and laughs in the face of poor soil and dry areas so we like ‘Skogholm’ a lot. Gets into those places other plants just can’t reach and when it’s there is astonishingly low maintenance. Banks and slopes spring to mind with this one, especially those tricksy ones where not much else will thrive but you’re longing for some green. Here it really excels, where the billowing roll and tumble of its evergreen growth will slosh up against walls and tree trunks (and stumps), down steps and over ledges. We’ve seen it cascading off of some balconies around the Brunswick Centre in central London, that temple of Brutalism, and from a distance it’s like an overflowing bath. Someone left a green tap on and the effect is captivating. It’s likely you don’t have several million tonnes of austere mid-century cement to soften with such plummeting and abundant growth, but it’s a comfort to know that out there is a plant that will do it.

This cotoneaster is perfectly happy in partial shade, but in full sun it’ll do all the other good stuff like flowering and fruiting with much more enthusiasm. Apart from extremes of dry or boggy ground, it is tolerant of most soils and aspects but grows that much better out of the cold drying winds. You can prune as required and don’t fret too much over doing so: treat mean/keep keen etc. etc. Can look a bit daft if you just shear it off into an unkind bowl-cut but it will rapidly grow back so you can practise your styling with impunity.

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.