Pyracantha (firethorn) has been popular in the Midwest for a long time, but the fact that this beautiful shrub resents root disturbance has restricted its wide use here as a winter ornamental.
Methods of Propagation
Nurseries now have found the source of this trouble, and are using better methods of propagation.
The result is that the Laland pyracantha became a more widely used evergreen winter shrub. Using the following methods, even an inexperienced gardener can grow his own pyracanthas from cuttings if he is willing to use a little time and patience.
Few shrubs root more easily from cuttings under the right conditions and when proper care is used in final transplanting.
From Cuttings of Roots
If possible, use the north side of the house or another building for starting your cuttings because temperatures will not change much through the winter and the propagating medium will not dry out rapidly.
Use Ordinary Pure Sand
Use ordinary pure sand without any extra sifting. This sand bed should be 6 to 8” inches deep.
Cuttings should be made in the late fall of October or early November. Mature wood from the current season’s growth should be used. The end of a branch is much preferable as it tends to give a good shape to the new plant.
Use cuttings 6 to 8” inches long. This will place the rooting end below most winter freezes and thaws.
Covered With Glass Jars
Since cuttings will be covered by glass jars, leaves or other mulch are helpful in preventing freezing and thawing.
If the winds bury the jars with leaves, let them remain as long as the tops of the jars are uncovered.
Rooting Hormone is Essential
Use a rooting hormone if you wish; make a hole in the sand bed as deep as the cutting is to be inserted and insert the cutting, pressing the sand firmly around it.
Never thrust the cutting itself into the sand without preparing a hole for it.
Finally, cover the cutting with a glass fruit jar or some other glass container. Press this down firmly to keep out the cold air.
Do Not Disturb The Cutting
Do not disturb the cutting to see if it is rooting. If everything has gone all right, you will know it when spring comes.
Cuttings frequently bloom in the first spring, but this does not necessarily mean that they have rooted. It does indicate that they are very much alive and will be likely to send out roots in due time.
At this stage, it is well to imagine that there is a sign on the glass jar covering the cutting which says “Don’t disturb.”
As temperatures increase, the glass jar may be removed for short periods of time but should be replaced immediately if any sign of wilting appears.
Arrival of Spring
When spring really arrives, the glass jars may be removed permanently from all cuttings that show no ill effects from their removal.
Resetting Young Pyracantha
However, do not be too eager to re-set your young pyracantha. Leave it alone until the second spring comes around. It will not only be making considerable growth above ground, but good strong roots will be developing, too.
They will be needed, for the crucial operation of your pyracantha’s life is soon to occur. At this point, the gardener must keep in mind that any re-setting of his pyracantha cutting may cause a root disturbance that may prove fatal.
Supply of Heavy Paper Pots
Assuming that all rules so far have been followed successfully, the next thing to do is to obtain a supply of the heavy paper pots that are now available and can be had in many sizes.
Some nurserymen use the pots for the whole process of growing pyracantha cuttings, but for the amateur, the sand-rooting method is easier.
Get paper pots of a large size, so that the pyracanthas can grow in them happily until they are ready to be placed in their final locations.
These pots should be filled with soil similar to that in which they will permanently be placed.
Avoid Root Disturbance
In removing the growing cutting from the sand bed to the pot, make every effort to avoid root disturbance. This can be done with proper attention and care.
Now bury the paper pot up to its rim in a location of half sun and half shade, where there will be no drying out in summer and no freezing of the roots in winter.
This will be a temporary location for the last year-long stage before the plant goes to its permanent place in your garden or yard.
Final Location of Pyracantha
Be sure you know exactly where you want your pyracantha to spend the rest of its life. If you ever try to transplant it you will be likely to lose it.
For the final location choose a place with lots of suns, if you want the plant to bloom its best. For the final planting, remove your plant from its paper pot carefully.
Generally, the paper pot is slit from top to bottom with a strong knife and the unbroken ball of earth is placed in the soil previously prepared for it.
Pyracantha Lalandi Training
Pyracantha Lalandi lends itself readily to training. It can be espaliered, allowed to take a natural shape, or trimmed in various ways.
This account may make you want to patronize your nurseryman, which is perfectly all right, except that you will miss the pleasure and experience of “growing your own.”
Varieties of Pyracantha
There are many varieties of pyracantha, some of which are a disappointment in the Midwest because of their inability to survive in our climate.
L. H. Bailey in his “Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture” says that Pyracantha Lalandi is somewhat hardier than most other firethorns and is often evergreen in sheltered places as far north as Massachusetts.
A very modern volume on gardening limits it to temperature zones 6 and 7, but experience in the central states shows that in zone 5 it usually seems to keep its leaves throughout the winter and also its scarlet berries unless the birds devour them.
Many Laland pyracanthas were lost in this zone last winter, however.