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Pruning a Pyracantha

watts.trevorwatts.trevor Posts: 14
in Problem solving
Help. I should appreciate advice on how to prune my Pyracantha. It has flower and now has beautiful red berries but lots of branches coming out horizontal from our west facing fence.

Looking forward to reading all provided advice.

Trevor

Posts

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I would leave the berried branches for the birds over the winter, then in spring as new growth is starting, prune all your outward facing branches right back to the main trunks.
    However if the sticky out bits are now impeding progress down a path, cut them all back now. It's virtually impossible to kill a pyracantha.  Make sure you wear some really tough gloves though, the thorns are viscious. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Yes - you can take branches out at any time, although it's best to avoid doing it if you have any frosts forecast. I've just done some of mine recently as they were encroaching a bit too far.  :)
    You can actually shape pyracantha in the same way as other topiary material, ant they're particularly good for cloud pruning,  but you tend to lose the flowers and berries. 

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I was advised on this forum that the bush can flower on last year's wood so any pruning will restrict flower and berries quite a way down the line.
  • watts.trevorwatts.trevor Posts: 14
    Thanks all for the advice.
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    We treat ours no differently to our privet hedge.  We cut whenever it gets too long and unsightly.  We lose some berries, but not all.  
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I cut back one side of mine (inherited) because it faces a tiny front garden and the Pyra wants to eat the world. The terrace neighbours have more space in the garden on their side and they are happy for it to grow wild and wooly and block the windows. Which is great for wildlife. So these days it seems all the flowers and berries will be on their side, which is a shame, but a fair kind of compromise.

    As a solo household with no gardener etc, I take the approach of trying to stay on top of jobs like hedging every few months. To start with, in my house, I let things ride and enjoyed the wildiness, but the jobs became so massive and knackering when I did them that I have turned to "little and often" as the motto. I also have no car to take garden waste to the dump, so rely on council waste bins (which are great). So I try to use them each week, rather than having huge loads of hedging etc to dispose of all at once.
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