Pyracantha as a front hedge?

[fleuriepeninsula]

We live in London in a terrace house in Zone 2.

Our front fence is lower (a plain brick wall) than most houses on our street who have bricks plus railings. For some reason, in the last six months, we seem to get all sorts of people sitting on our front fence at all times of day, even really early - we are fairly regularly getting woken up by local kids chatting loudly on our front wall.

I'm very tempted to plant a hedge of pyracantha to deter our fence sitters. Is this TOO anti-social? Is there anything I need to be aware of? They grow fast, have spikes, and suit clay soil - they tick all the boxes for me.

All true, but they’re vicious thorny buggers to prune! I hope you’ve either got a pair of gauntlets or some kind of powered trimmer so you don’t have to touch the stuff.

It is exceptionally evil. I probably would.

It is really nasty to prune, it’s vicious.

I would recommend doing this. We had the same issues when we moved in and planted a pyracantha. Pros: they get lovely white flowers in the spring and berries in autumn, it does stop people from loitering. As PP said the cons are that it can be thorny and do tend to grown quickly in summer so you have to keep on top of it.

I've one. I had lots of people climbing over my wall in to my garden then over my back wall as a shortcut. It certainly stop people using the wall.

It's very difficult (and painful!!) to prune. Mine can grow big, as it's at the side and away from the house entrance and the wall high (7ft). I only cut it back once a year. You might need to do that more frequently

You'll have to cut it regularly but it will stop your wall-sitters. They're vicious (but good for wildlife)

Its lovely for wildlife, although not as perfect as hawthorn or blackthorn, one of which has “interesting smelling blossoms” in thw springtime. Firethorn (pyracatha) is a great deterrent, but also great for bees in the springtime, and fluttering with birds in the autumn, as they love the berries.
blackthorn was planted over plague pits so will have more vicious thorns and be faster growing, though it may not be what you want in your lovely front garden how about a thorny rambler rose, will grow just as fast as firethorn and is prettier.

Ooh good, everyone agrees with me.

Exactly how spiky is it? I'm foreign, how does it compare to say a bougainveillea? (I've done a lot of what you'd call desk top research, generally at 5am after being woken up...)

Very spiky, I had a lot of it in the last garden and it was a constant fight. It grows fast and it best pruned when the spikes are younger. They really hurt...best tracked with a hedge trimmer but take care picking up the trimmings.

I have a bit here too, glad to hear it's ok for bees, etc.

It's very spiky indeed. Thorns every inch or so and they're sharp and long. You need really thick gloves to deal with it and you can't put cuttings in bin bags. But it's great :)

It is evil stuff. This is a pruning injury

My parents have this for their low walled, front garden. I had no idea it was such a vicious bugger.

It's basically Edward Scissorshrub.

You'll need big thick leather gloves to wear whilst keeping it in check.

It'll stop the wall sitters though!!

I have some pyracatha in the back garden and it is painful to prune. I have berberis as our front hedge and that is spiky so it would deter your loiterers but I don't find it as bad to prune as pyracatha.

it's a lovely plant.
lovely flowers and pretty berries.
and very effective.
go for it.

The injury to yourself from pruning it outweighs the benefits. Try hawthorn instead.

The thorns are thick needles. Long And thick needles. It’s horrible. The previous owners of our hiiuse used it to stop children from coming into the garden to get their footballs.

It’s a nasty thing. Inch long sharp needles.

We have one in the back garden to deter people climbing over the fence. Bees love the flowers and wood pigeons love the berries. It is very difficult to prune but given you only need to do it once a year I don't think that should put you off as it sounds perfect for what you need. It might take a few years to be big enough though.

You can do it but you will need gloves and arm protection.
I recommend using hedge clippers and putting down a tarpaulin or old sheet to catch the clippings so you don't have to handle them too much.

I have one for the same reason. I have shaped it into a hedge and I don’t find it a problem to prune. Of course you have to wear gardening gloves. I love the fact that it is evergreen and they the blackbirds sit in it and enjoy the berries,

They are indeed fabulous for wildlife. We have a blackbird party every autumn when the one out back is in fruit. It fruits just in time for all the blackbirds that migrate here from Eastern Europe for winter to scoff.

And the flowering is well timed for the June gap, when there's a lull in flowers for nectar feeders.

Well worth having as long as you can face the pruning! We do ours every other year so we get really good years for berries. Ours would be huge if we let it, so pick your cultivar with care!

If you just need something to stop people sitting on your wall, why does it have to have needles? Surely any hedge grown right against the wall will make the wall inaccessible for sitting down on?

Because the hedge has to grow, and if people keep wall sitting it won't grow into that space. A pyracantha will be a little more assertive than privet or photinia. Because of its enormous razor sharp talons.

It’s evil stuff. We’ve got a completely unmanaged one in our car park. The thing is about 15-20ft tall, scratches the cars and the thorns ruin tyres. I cut it down as much as I can and I always come away bleeding when I do so.

I’m just thinking as well as stopping people from sitting on your wall, it may have the unintended consequence of injuring passers-by, especially children.