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Shropshire, United Kingdom Gb

Pyracantha. I planted these last autumn and they have finished flowering. When is the best time to prune them? Want them to grow sideways onto trellis. Assume need to prune forward growing stems? Any other tips for encouraging it to grow laterally? Many thanks :)



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They are quite easy shrubs to train flat against a fence, especially as you have what appears to be a good strong trellis to tie in the new shoots to. Normally you would prune after flowering, bearing in mind that you want as many berries as possible over the winter! But they don't seem to mind if you just snip and tie as they seem to need it. You can start now if you like but just take off the most forward growing shoots. I wouldn't do anything else at present as you don't want to encourage sappy new growth at this time of year.

When the laterals are long enough just tie them in horizontally gently. As they mature they will grow in that shape and become self supporting, which is good as it can avoid putting much strain on the trellis.. After a year or two you can encourage the fan to fill in from the laterals by just taking out the growing tips to encourage side shoots. They are very amenable to training and you can more or less make it up as you go along!

13 Aug, 2015

 

Thanks Steragram. How long will it take before the majority of trellis is covered? Are they fast growers?

13 Aug, 2015

 

I'd say quite fast once established they grow quite fast
I can't see any berries and I'd remove them anyway while young as you want the growth.....
You could put in some annual climbers next summer if you want some colour

14 Aug, 2015

 

Probably slower in Shropshire, Amsterdam, but here in Phoenix, they usually do 1-2 meters a year, up to 2.7 a year for 'Graberi'.

15 Aug, 2015

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