Cotoneaster Bonsai Progression (2017 – Now)

This is my Cotoneaster bonsai that I started from Nursery material that I am trying to grow as bonsai and I will be going through its progression below.

It is still has a lot of development, but I still think it’s coming along nicely. The variety is – Cotoneaster Conspicuus Decorus

If you want to watch it in video format, you can watch the YouTube playlist below. The videos show the progression every month throughout the year, sort of like a time lapse.

Just be aware some of my earlier videos are not the best quality, but just like my trees, the quality slowly improves over time, so stick with them and they both get a little better towards the end.

Cotoneaster is a small semi-evergreen shrub that is often found in gardens. It has naturally small leaves and gets covered in little flowers that turn into red berries.

You can read more about their suitability in Is Cotoneaster A Good Tree For Bonsai?

2017

In the spring of 2017 bought tree the tree for £2 at garden centre. It was looking very ill so was in the discounted section.

Once I got it home I cut it back pretty hard and also repotted it into some better soil.

It was then left to recover.  It looked like it might die for a while, but it pulled through and actually flowered in the summer.

2018

In 2018 I did nothing to the tree. I just left it alone and let it grow.

2019 

I was going to ignore it in 2019, but I moved houses so I had to make it a bit smaller.

I started with a hard prune at the end of the winter. As spring approached I repotted the tree. This time into a smaller pot so it could be transported easily.

You will see that it got knocked in transit and is now learning to one side in the pot.

The tree grew well in spring so I pruned the new growth back.

 I then left it for the rest of the year to recover.

2020

2020 started in a similar way with a hard prune in late winter.

I then repotted as spring arrived. The roots are a bit of a disaster; I tried to fix them as best as I could but this will be a long term project. I also put the tree into a bonsai pot. I know it’s not really the time for this, but I am treating it more like a training pot.

It flowered in late spring, and then put a lot of new growth on during the summer.

The tree was left to grow freely for the rest of the year, and it grew one red berry.

2021

I started 2021 as usual with a winter prune towards the end of February.

I did not repot it this year.

It was left to grow out all year and it flowered in the summer again.

2022

2022 was more of the same with a late winter prune to take everything back.

In spring as the buds swelled I repotted the tree. The roots are still a disaster, but are slowly getting better.

It was then left to recover and just grow freely for the rest of the year. It did flower in the early summer.

You can see some of the flowers turned into little red berries.

2023

2023 was started with a prune in late winter to get everything ready for the spring growth.

There was plenty of new buds in spring, but I did not repot the tree.It has been slow growing, so I don’t think the pot will will be full and I think it can benefit from waiting another year to touch the roots again.

The tree pushed out plenty of new growth, but it was just left alone and allowed to grow freely all season long.

It did flower again in early summer and some of those turned into the little red berries in the autumn.

2024

And this is where we are now with this tree. The plan is going to be more of the same. I will prune it back before spring, probably repot it and then to just leave it to grow out and maybe prune it back in the summer if it grows like crazy, we will see how it does.

If you also have a cotoneaster and are wondering how I look after it, you can read my Cotoneaster Bonsai Care Guide.