I never know where to ask anything in the forums!

I bought five of these today. They are fully hardy in my area and want decent but not overwhelming moisture along with full sun. They're arching, spreading, about 3'X3'.

Anyone have any design ideas for these guys or companions? Have you seen anything w/these that is really great? I have a complicated rural landscape with lots of garden areas and borders and lots of unkempt, unmanaged mess that will probably be staying that way. I have areas where erosion is a concern and plenty of places that just could use a fill-in of whatever, but does anyone know of any plant combinations that really work great with these?

Lots of choices, no real plan.

If I can't think of anything else I'm going to plant one each between red currant bushes in a space usually devoted to the poison ivy........

I've only ever seen them once in a landscape and they were growing around a large oak tree as a ground cover of sorts. I personally liked the rugged look of them around a structural feature like a tree. As far as companion plants I think they would overgrow any perennials or other more manicured bushes. I think I would keep it simple by just placing them around structural objects to soften the landscape. Examples being large trees, foundations, rock walls, boulders, etc.

Give them plenty of room, around here they get considerably wider than 3'. Maybe use some bulbs or other ephemerals around the edges to pop up through in the spring. Also excellent cascading down rocks like a waterfall.

Yes I agree they don't need any companions and need space. They are lovely shrubs.

Sue, do they get about 6' across out your way? Or wider?

CPPgardener said:Sue, do they get about 6' across out your way? Or wider?

I'd say 3 - 4 feet per plant, but if you have a grouping they will easily cover 6 feet. They make excellent groundcover with a very long season of interest.

I have some photos somewhere from gardens I've visited so will try and add some to the database here.

Rock Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis)

Thank you all for your thoughts....I'm kind of interested in interspersing them with a vertical element--like Karl Foerster (sp?) grass, which is my favorite grass and also...my dogs' favorite grass. They dart straight to my patches here and there. I use the KF grass in a similar situation as I'm thinking about with the cotoneaster--with Siberian cypress, so like a low arching plant surrounding a strongly vertical element (on a small scale, like the oak mentioned above). I'm thinking, if the grass is surrounded by the cotoneaster, the dogs can't get to it, and it will have nice fall/winter interest.

It's so weird--I buy lots of ornamental grasses and it's a big rural property with grasses galore, but jeezum crow do the dogs like the KF grass. They ate it so much it disappeared from one of my gardens. They dart directly to it . Now I have to figure out how to protect the remaining patches.

I'm glad people like them...they're heeled in the vegetable garden and I like their fountain-like growth pattern.

Throwing them between the currants is just my 'if I throw my hands up' idea. At least it will combat the poison ivy.

That is so odd, never in my years have I heard of dogs eating KF. I have tons and my dog has never touched it, but she prefers to dig up my montbretia bulbs instead! Good luck in your future plantings!

cometzeus said:That is so odd, never in my years have I heard of dogs eating KF. I have tons and my dog has never touched it, but she prefers to dig up my montbretia bulbs instead! Good luck in your future plantings!

:( well, given that, I'm going to assume they're doing it for my reaction, which is OUTTAMYGARDEN OUTTAMYGARDEN and waving my hands around and running at them and now that I think about that, I'm not surprised if the dogs find it hilarious.

My cats eat it. In the spring when it emerges they chew the new blades to nubs.

I know cats will eat grass if its excluded from their diet as it aids their digestion, maybe both of your pets are doing it for that reason and why another person's won't.

kniphofia said:I know cats will eat grass if its excluded from their diet as it aids their digestion, maybe both of your pets are doing it for that reason and why another person's won't.

Sue, in my 50 years of living with cats, I've learned that some are more avid grass-eaters than others, and it often does seem to depend on their digestive needs. With my current two, one seems to just like it, and for the other it definitely appears to aid in the upchucking of indigestible insect parts and the occasional fur ball. In the past I have planted them dedicated patches of oat grass, which they freely nibbled on, but it still didn't keep them from ruining the new growth of my ornamentals.