In article , Justinthyme77
writes
'm having the house re-pointed and have a couple of firethorns, pruned

to about 3' wide, which I have nurtured so far to about 12' against the

wall and I don't want to lose them. They have fairly straight central

stems and I intend to prune them back as close to the stem as is

reasonable so that I can then release the ties and carefully lay them

back so as to provide access for the brickies. Anyone know how close I

could reasonably go at this time of year without causing irrepairable

damage?




Very close! I pruned mine back to about 3 inches from the soil one
year as it had two large stems completely in the wrong direction. It
came back and i now prune to within a joint of the flowers, then again
with the berries and closer still if there aren't any. Also take off any
that are growing backwards against the wall or they'll push the whole
thing off the wall.
--
Janet Tweedy