@Fire fewer flowers because it flowers on old wood. Quote from RHS: `Pyracantha flowers mainly on shoots produced the previous year, so when pruning try to retain as much two-year-old wood as possible`
That's interesting. It's a bit off topic, but my plant is a limited space between two terrace front gardens, so I have to keep it pruned to some extent or it would block all the windows. I have got the timing wrong in previous years, wanting to keep the berries on for as long as possible. I have left it to late Jan/early Feb and found that, during the year, I got no flowers - I must have pruned off nascent buds that I couldn't yet see. So I moved the schedule up, to maximise existing berries and yet make way for new flowers (as I have to prune, given the situ) and it has been fine.
I have discussed this on previous threads here on previous years, so I was quite careful this last year (and slightly anxious) to see what would happen. With an Xmas pruning the bush was covered with flowers and is now covered with berries. I can't leave any more "old wood" on my side, unless I gave up my front raised bed and just grew pyracantha in the space (which is kind of how it was when I moved in). I keep it, really, just for the wildlife. There is a sparrow's nest in the eaves right above it and they seem to spend much of the day in the bush, snoozing. Robins and blackbirds too. I don't like it's prickles as it's a PITA to prune. I've wrecked my wrist before now, sawing it down trying to keep it to head height. It will happily reach the first floor windows if left ot its own devices. Now I try and stay on top of pruning.
Given the bush doesn't flower until May, and grows very fast, I would guess there is enough time for a lot of bush to grow between Dec and May and that is what the new flowers are growing on. I don't suppose this counts as "old wood". It's worth looking into.
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I very much doubt anyone has greener fingers than me. I do bugger all to the bush except prune it hard once a year to stop it eating the neighbourhood and possibly the neighbours.
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I prune it pretty much back to the drainpipe around xmas. I guess you can spot all the berries. It is a sprawling mess, but it's as good as I can get and keep the wildlife virtues. It also hides a useful waterbutt.
I have one that I prune back quite hard about every other winter when I want to paint the fence behind it, and not so hard the other years just to keep it in check. It grows back vigorously. It's not a plant that I love for itself particularly, but it was a cutting from my Nan's garden and was the first thing that I planted after we bought the house, so it has some sentimental value.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
You can prune them back hard. The timing depends on whether you want flowers or fruit. Pruning after flowering means no fruit, but pruning after the fruit generally means a shortage of flowers next year. It's temporary though. If I need to prune, I tend to do it in summer. I have plenty of fruiting plants for the birds, so it's not a huge problem. If I did it after the berries are taken, it wouldn't have time here to produce new growth for the flowering period next year, so I'd lose flowers and fruit for a year.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you all for your experiences with Pyracanthia - I have just been talking over the hedge to an elderly man on his allotment and his suggestion was perhaps to cut half hard back and they try layering - new approach but I might just try that.
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If I need to prune, I tend to do it in summer. I have plenty of fruiting plants for the birds, so it's not a huge problem. If I did it after the berries are taken, it wouldn't have time here to produce new growth for the flowering period next year, so I'd lose flowers and fruit for a year.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...