I purchased three Pyracantha coccinea – Firethorns in 2012 from Todays nursery in Parker, Colorado. I have been letting them grow during the summer and would prune them back in the spring. Of the three trees one has a large trunk which branches off into two trunks growing at angle from the main trunk. The trunk on this tree still growing in its nursery pot has really grown into a very nice thick trunk for a nursery tree. The tree was wired sometime ago and was rewired two years ago. Ramification on the tree is heavy. Large branches become middle sized branches and all the way down to smaller branches all over the tree. The tree now stands around 30 inches tall and almost as wide. This tree was allowed to grow unchecked last year. The tree produced new branches all over the tree. Some of the newer branches were used in the design, but most of them were cut off. The root ball on this tree will be reduced this spring in preparation of finally putting it into a Bonsai pot. This tree along with other two trees were being grown on the east side of my house and they loved it there. One year I moved all three to the back of the house and had them sitting in full sun on a plant bench with the pots being protected from the sun. All three of the trees were doing poorly. The lost over 60% of their leaves and looked sick and weak. I moved them back to the east side of the house and they finally recovered their health the next year. I have two other Pyracantha growing in full sun on the same plant bench and they love it there. Probably not the same species as these three. I moved this tree under 30% shade cloth on the south side of my house which gets direct sun all day. The tree loved it there and put on a lot of new growth. I use an organic fertilizer called Plant-tone on this tree supplemented with Miracle-Gro sprayed on the foliage. I did not cut any of the thorns off this tree. A wise person would not blindly thrust their hand into the tree.
Here is a photo gallery of the tree taken on 02-29-2020.
