Planting lots of Pyracantha and want to give them a good start

wcarlw

HI guys,

Im totally new to this stuff so go easy on me if I say something silly.

I am going to be planting lots of pyracantha for a security hedge.

I want to give it the best start possible and i dont mind spending a little bit of money to achieve that.

My soil is 'normal' if thats a thing, nothing outstanding about it, we have a few trees in the garden so im sure the soil isnt bad.

My plan is to dig up the area (the width of the garden) and prep it for the shrubs.

I will use compost on this occasion, im going to mix it in with the top soil, i also believe Blood, fish and bone is good but im not 100% sure about how to apply it, do i sprinkle it on after planting or mix it in?

I was going to use miracle grow compost which i know has fertiliser in it so will the B.F & B cause any adverse effects?

Am I going about this the right way? or is there a better way?

The Pyracantha will be about 6ft on arrival if that makes any difference.

Thanks guys

AnniD

Welcome to the forum @wcarlw First thing, pyracantha are extremely prickly (As you obviously know !) , so wear a good pair of gloves. They are pretty tough shrubs, so you don't need to mollycoddle them. My advice is not to use the miracle gro compost at this time of year, just a good quality multi purpose. If you can, l would use mychorrizal fungi. You put this around the rootball if they are pot grown plants, or in the planting hole if they are bare rooted. That's my advice, there will be others ! Don't worry about asking questions, this is a friendly forum !

wcarlw

Hi Anni,

Yes VERY prickly, thats my reason for choosing them, the berries too  

Yes i forgot about the gloves, i will order a pair or two so someone can hep me plant them. Thanks, i will look into the mychorrizal fungi on Amazon.

The shrubs are currently in a pot but will be taken out and put in the ground when they arrive, would that constitute being bare rooted?

Also with the mychorrizal fungi, would i not need the Blood, fish and bone?

Thank you for your help

Fairygirl

They're very easy. If the soil is in decent condition, just add some compost and B,F&B when planting, water in well and stand back  
A mulch of manure, more compost, or bark, will help keep things neat and tidy over winter too. Spacing for a hedge would be around 12 to 18 inches. They get quite robust in a few years, with decent trunks on them, if they have a good start.
General advice is a sunny spot and free draining soil, but they will actually grow in shade very well, and in almost any soil. 

lovegardening77

I think bare rooted means that the plants arrive in a bag without soil and need planting ASAP....

Fairygirl

If they're in a pot - they're potted. Bare rooted means they've been grown in the ground, then lifted and dispatched, often with hessian or similar round them.
Ideally , you plant right away, but you can heel them into a bit of spare ground, or keep them damp with a bit of soil over them etc, until you're ready to plant properly.

AnniD

Sorry, had to cook the dinner ! If you used the mychorrizal fungi , l would say you would not need the bfb, but you could fork some in in the Spring. Hope all this is helpful and not too confusing 

wcarlw

Thanks everyone, im reading up and the Fungi and what it does looks very impressive. I think ill go with that :-)

So what ill do is

Prep the ground (get rid of grass etc)

Add some multi-purpose compost

When i dig the hole, put in the required amounts of Fungi in the bottom of the hole

Add the plant from the plant pot (3 litre pots)

Cover with soil

Then add more compost on top as mulch

I think im getting this!!

Thank you everyone

Marlorena

I've never fussed over a pyracantha…  my favourite varieties are 'Soleil d'Or'..'Teton'.. and 'Orange Glow'...
... dig reasonable hole, take plant out of pot, place in hole, back fill, firm with foot, and water in well...   other than that, I shouldn't bother personally..    
...feeding is simply not necessary in my experience.. and as for getting it off to a good start, always remember that it has to get used to the rest of your soil conditions, so fussing over the planting hole with luxury ingredients, is probably opposite to what it's going to find when it ventures out from that hole, which is why some people advise that it's best not to over do it... 

wcarlw

That makes perfect sense, I think i will def go with the Fungi because of what it does and use some compost, even if its to make myself feel better and leave it at that until spring.

The Pyracantha im getting is Red column, Orange glow and Golden charmer

Does the site keep going down? I think my internet may be playing up :-(

AnniD

Could be your internet, mine's okay. Good luck with the planting - and watch out for those spiky bits !