For the first time in 40 years, my two pyracantha bushes have produced no berries. Is there a reason for this? Can it be corrected?
Did you prune them? A hard pruning will mean few flowers the following year, because pyracantha, aka firethorn, flower on last year’s growth. If you cut them back hard at the wrong time you can unwittingly remove all the flower buds.
If you haven’t been pruning them, I can only think that there was poor pollination. If the spring was wet, cold or windy in the days the flowers appeared, then a lack of pollinators would mean no berries later on.
Another possibility is that there were berries, but they dropped before they were fully formed. This can happen if the conditions get too dry. If you want to guard against this happening again, mulch well around the bases of the shrubs to increase soil moisture, and try an application of potash-rich fertiliser such as Chase organic garden potash to promote flowering and fruiting.
Finally, make sure plenty of other flowers are planted around your pyracantha to bring the bees in: for instance, Mexican orange blossom (choisya) and euphorbias.
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