Willowleaf cotoneaster (C. salicifolius) nursery find

James W.

Chumono
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Found this last fall for $8. I thought the trunk felt good (I couldn't see it).
Its hard to see in there:
DSC_0001.JPGDSC_0003.JPGDSC_0004.JPG
So I removed a bunch that I was pretty sure I wouldn't want, and now I can see what I have:
DSC_0006.JPGDSC_0010.JPGDSC_0011.JPG
I'm not unhappy. I'm going to play with the planting angle a bit.
Some kind of ugly reverse taper on that horizontal section and not much taper at all up to there.
I'm hoping I can get some branches growing to thicken up the lower section without affecting to top much. I guess I should have left one down low. (The one I cut off was at a really bad angle so would have been useless as part of the design.)
 

Flounder61

Sapling
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How does it look now, James W?
 

Flounder61

Sapling
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Man! Beautiful!!!
 

James W.

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Not happy with the heat. Also too big pot is staying wet.
Not quite completely dead yet, maybe.
Planning a spot with only morning sun and maybe a repot.
DSC_0012.JPG
 

AlainK

Imperial Masterpiece
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Not quite completely dead yet, maybe.

Oooh, sad news : unfortunately, from my experience, if some trees can backbud after losing all their leaves because of the heat (apple trees, maples, etc.), when all the leaves on a coto are dry, whether horizontalis or other, the tree is dead. :(

But C. slicifolius is an interesting species to work with, if this one doesn't survive, try another one.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
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Ouch, too bad, was a very nice start.

That looks like the typical catastrophic fungal infection related death, caused by being too wet, then alternating with too dry. Throw in too wet and too hot at the roots, then too dry and hot at the roots, die to sun heating up the black plastic pot and the fungus just does the rest.

Fungal infection would not get a chance to start if root environment was moderated enough to not kill a portion of the roots.

That is my opinion without seeing it in person. Do try again, when you cut off that much of the tree, do repot to a smaller pot with better media.
 

James W.

Chumono
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Ouch, too bad, was a very nice start.

That looks like the typical catastrophic fungal infection related death, caused by being too wet, then alternating with too dry. Throw in too wet and too hot at the roots, then too dry and hot at the roots, die to sun heating up the black plastic pot and the fungus just does the rest.

Fungal infection would not get a chance to start if root environment was moderated enough to not kill a portion of the roots.

That is my opinion without seeing it in person. Do try again, when you cut off that much of the tree, do repot to a smaller pot with better media.
Thank you. I agree.
I do try to learn from my mistakes. I'll do better next time. Maybe.
But if I learned something every time I screwed something up I would be a genius by now.
 

Flounder61

Sapling
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So, cotoneasters.....I've killed several, despite hearing they are tough.

The advice is (& kindly confirm/correct) if I do a hard prune to:
  1. balance that w/root pruning?
  2. also, put it in a better draining media-not leaving it in the nursery pot soil?
  3. put it in a smaller pot as well?
I welcome any feedback!
 
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