Prickly shrub
Pyracantha is a nice shrub we frequently see planted in our landscapes. Its red or orange berry clusters are very showy, especially now as I write this in January, 2026. The berries are hard to miss.
The other key feature of this common shrub are its nasty prickles. After all, its common name is fire thorn; and I have lots of bad experiences with it. Once, I got poked in the hand, at the bottom of my thumb and the area swelled up for days.
That’s why Pyracanthas are planted both for their showy berry clusters and for security, to keep criminals and pedos away from your home. I still remember one project where we planted Pyracanthas along the outer walls of an underground parkade to discourage criminals from breaking in.
Pruning
Pyracanthas like to send out shoots so we keep power shearing them to keep them in check. And they can take it. You can, of course, hand prune them, but it’s slower and it requires a decent pair of gloves.
Now, this blog post was inspired by my recent visit to Langley Memorial Hospital in British Columbia, Canada. I had to wait for one hour and sitting inside a hospital didn’t excite me. I tried, but the constant stream of nurses and patients moving by depressed me. So, I went for a walk and that’s where I discovered a few Pyracanthas by the wall.
Don’t rush
As I got closer to the shrubs, I discovered some blemishes that made it clear this was a rush job. You can’t just machine gun the shrub and run away. Do you know why? It looks awful. Great clean up is mandatory.
I discovered cut branches on top of the shrubs that were never removed. They will be easy to spot once they turn completely brown but why wait? Put gloves on and remove them, even if it’s slightly annoying. The prickles make them stick so it can take some effort.
A second problem involves the tips. You can see the shredding because Pyracanthas are woody and they resist power shearing. Thus the shredding. So what do we do about it? Use your snips to clean up the tops. Simply make nice cuts below the shredded tops. That cleans it up nicely.
Remember to do a good job pruning and cleaning. Your Pyracanthas will love you for it!
