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CGWatson
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 1:28 pm
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA Zone 5b)

What type of Cotoneaster am I looking for?

Hi all, jumping right in with my first question on the forum...

I'm in Milwaukee, WI (Zone 5b) and I'm looking for a plant to train up a 9ft trellis to hide/soften my ugly garage wall.

The wall is north facing and only gets sun in the last few hours of the afternoon. All the rest of the time it is in either the shade of the garage, the house, or the huge silver maple in the middle of the lawn.

A family member said "Cotoneaster is what you need", but now I'm Googling I see there are about a zillion different types varieties all with different features.

Cotoneaster Horizontalis is what seems to pop up the most if I Google 'cotoneaster trellis', but some sites say it will only grow to 3ft and I'm looking to reach near the top of the 9 foot wall.

Please help? (Suggestions other than Cotoneaster also welcome). Thanks!

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

I would think about a vine. Good choice would be the native honeysuckle vine (Lonicera sempervirens). It is evergreen, spring-flowering native with orange-scarlet flowers, that hummingbirds like. It will rapidly grow to the top of your trellis, but it is pretty well behaved after that, will just fill in more, but doesn't get huge. Trumpet creeper and the related cross vine are also evergreen hummingbird vines, but they do get huge and will swallow your garage.



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