Pruning pyrocantha?
 

Hi,
I planted bout 10/12 Pyrocantha plants about 2 years ago now, and
they are about 4/5 feet high. I wondered about cutting them back to stop
them growing in height?? And if I do so will they then fill out/grow
horizontally?

Advice please

Thanks
--
Bob H
Leeds UK

In article ,
Bob H writes:
| Hi,
| I planted bout 10/12 Pyrocantha plants about 2 years ago now, and
| they are about 4/5 feet high. I wondered about cutting them back to stop
| them growing in height?? And if I do so will they then fill out/grow
| horizontally?

Yes. Cut them back to well below where you want them to fill out,
and don't worry too much about being brutal. They are.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Bob H" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I planted bout 10/12 Pyrocantha plants about 2 years ago now, and
they are about 4/5 feet high. I wondered about cutting them back to stop
them growing in height?? And if I do so will they then fill out/grow
horizontally?

Advice please

Thanks
--
Bob H
Leeds UK


You will loose all the berries though if you are too brutal

Cut back all new shoots in August and reduce the height in the spring is a
better idea ..........this way the hedge will thicken and you will retain
the berries all winter for the birds

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
Bob H writes:
| Hi,
| I planted bout 10/12 Pyrocantha plants about 2 years ago now, and
| they are about 4/5 feet high. I wondered about cutting them back to stop
| them growing in height?? And if I do so will they then fill out/grow
| horizontally?

Yes. Cut them back to well below where you want them to fill out,
and don't worry too much about being brutal. They are.

Wear thick gloves too. They are very much like green barbed wire.

My preference is to prune them to make best display of the fruit.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown writes:
|
| | I planted bout 10/12 Pyrocantha plants about 2 years ago now, and
| | they are about 4/5 feet high. I wondered about cutting them back to stop
| | them growing in height?? And if I do so will they then fill out/grow
| | horizontally?
|
| Yes. Cut them back to well below where you want them to fill out,
| and don't worry too much about being brutal. They are.
|
| Wear thick gloves too. They are very much like green barbed wire.

Barbed wire is blunt by comparison. I know of no gloves available
on the domestic market that will stop pyracantha thorns.

| My preference is to prune them to make best display of the fruit.

Agreed, but my comment was about how to make them fill out (e.g.
for a hedge). You need to cut back to well below where you want
the top to be. Once they have filled out, you cut back the new
growth once or twice a year.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes
Agreed, but my comment was about how to make them fill out (e.g. for a
hedge). You need to cut back to well below where you want the top to
be. Once they have filled out, you cut back the new growth once or
twice a year.

I've wondered how pleached pyracantha would work. Have never heard of
it, but I don't see why it couldn't be done, and it could be very
attractive.

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In article ,
Klara writes:
| In message , Nick Maclaren
| writes
| Agreed, but my comment was about how to make them fill out (e.g. for a
| hedge). You need to cut back to well below where you want the top to
| be. Once they have filled out, you cut back the new growth once or
| twice a year.
|
| I've wondered how pleached pyracantha would work. Have never heard of
| it, but I don't see why it couldn't be done, and it could be very
| attractive.

I can't see why not, either. Craetagus and Pyracantha are closely
related, grow in similar ways, and have similar properties.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Klara
writes
In message , Nick Maclaren
writes
Agreed, but my comment was about how to make them fill out (e.g. for a
hedge). You need to cut back to well below where you want the top to
be. Once they have filled out, you cut back the new growth once or
twice a year.

I've wondered how pleached pyracantha would work. Have never heard of
it, but I don't see why it couldn't be done, and it could be very
attractive.

Very similar is an espalier pyracantha at York Gate - main branches
trained horizontally along the house at two foot intervals, tightly
pruned so they become a 6inch wide garland of leaves and berries.

Since you don't need the house for support, doing the same thing in the
open would be pleaching.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In message , Kay
writes
Very similar is an espalier pyracantha at York Gate - main branches
trained horizontally along the house at two foot intervals, tightly
pruned so they become a 6inch wide garland of leaves and berries.

Since you don't need the house for support, doing the same thing in the
open would be pleaching.

I thought of this because my daughter in Norfolk has a small garden that
goes uphill from their living-room window, with the fence about 20 feet
away; the neighbours' garden slants similarly upward, so their back door
is at a level half-way up the fence. They have now built a deck, which,
being level, is also half-way up the fence, with the result that the
neighbours hover waist-high above this 7-foot fence! I was trying to
think of something that would be higher but not oppressive, and I
thought that perhaps pleaching standard pyracanthas might do the trick?


--
Klara, Gatwick basin