I have planted a whole row of pyrocanthus , hoping to have a beautiful wall of color....I have planted several different colors....everyone tells me (they are not gardeners) thaey they are hard to trim and seem negative about them.....they are against a 6' fence, south facing but shaded.....the fence is very ugly and above the fence is a row of trees that have been badly trimmed, they show alot of wood....I want to fill in that space to look nice......How do I trim these plants to look nice....any tricks....?do I cut and tye them or what would be the best.....the plants are quite small some are going up to 6' already....placed 10 ft apart.....about 6 plants...perhaps I need more plants.......ideas anyone ??
Pyracantha are medium to large shrubs with small white flowers in early summer and showy fruit of various colour later in the season. They will make the lovley display that you have imagined. You may wish to grow these plants in either of two ways:a formal display or as a more informal and dynamic planting. The first method, against the fence/wall, will look flat in nature whilst the second pattern of growth will give more substance to the display. That is if you have room to give allow these plants this kind of growth. They would occupy about 4' of ground space. If you have already planted these plants close to the fence then perhaps treating them as wall shrubs is your only option. Treated as wall shrubs, a formal method of growth, against the fence will require more frequent attention: pruning in midspring and then again in late summer, shortening some of the new growth to expose the berries to come. Initially, you will need to tie in the main stems and the lateral stems to create a fan shape or a more symmetrial tree like shape. So, you will need to devise a sturdy means of atachment for these plants, such as trellises or a system of wires to which stems can be tied. ( The fence if it is in good condition may provide some support for the plant when it is young, but as the plants grow they may reach higher than the fence - 15' - so you will need to tie in growth higher and higher each year.) If some of your plants have only a single-stem, all you can do is grow the plant straight up tieing in lateral growth on either side of this main stem ( a tree like shape with tiered branches extending horizontally will result ). If you want more of a fan shape then, upon planting or in the first year, or in this case in the spring, cut the main stem back - this will make the plant produce several stems that can then be tied in to the trellis. Basically what you will be doing , in terms of pruning, is removing or shortening to one or two buds, any stem growing directly outward or inward toward the fence - you are looking to produce a flat wall of vegetation so any growth that is out of line with that objective must be nipped before it gets going. You can pinch out the tips of young forward-growing shoots to encourage sideways branching. The lateral that are the longest should be shortened by a few buds, particularly where the growht is sparse, to stimulate branching and a balanced coverage. There are books on this method of training plants (espalier) which might be helpful to you; they will offer you many different configurations or shapes you can try. These books will provide diagrams with exactly where you need to cut and tie in the branches. Treated as a more informal hedge, the area will appear more three dimensional and the natural archng habit of the plant can be emphasized unless of course you wish to create a formal hedge. In that case, prune this form of hedge in spring and then clip two or three times during the growing season. Specimen shrubs need little pruning at the fomative stage or when established. If wayward, over vigorous branches ruin the shape, reomve them comletely. Good luck with this planting idea Mar.
thank you so much for the detailed and informative information on pruning the pyrocanthus.....I am very excited about trying, tying and snipping it into shape...the colors are amazing and I want to combine them to make a beautiful flat wall of berries and flowers....thank again.......
Hey Mar, watch out for those thorns. A friend needed medical treatment after a good stick from one of them. Some people react strongly to pricks from pyrocantha (this is the reason for the name, fire thorn) and it can be quite painful. Better wear good gloves.
Just a tip for searching for info on the internet - the correct spelling is Pyracantha, you'll get more hits with that spelling :-)
