How To Deal With A Pyracantha Dilemma

About This Episode

The Grumpy Gardener addresses a reader’s dilemma on pyracantha. Plus, his biggest gripe of the week.

Question Of The Week

"22 years ago I planted pyracantha to grow up and over a pergola with a swing under it. It has since gotten huge, and become a menace. Is there another evergreen without all the thorns I could train in the same way?"

Grumpy's Answer: Friendlier things you could try, without all the vicious thorns, include a vine like Carolina Jessamine, which has sweet smelling flowers.You could try Confederate Jasmines, which have sweet smelling white flowers. Tangerine Beauty cross vine, that's an evergreen with beautiful flowers in the spring. You could try something like a Sasanqua Camilla, called Sparkling Burgundy, which is very upright. You can train it and it will have beautiful flowers in the fall. Or you could use a thornless climbing rose.

The pyracantha people used to grow that because, you know, it had all the orange berries on it and everything, and it was evergreen. And you could prune it up against a fence, but it's got these vicious thorns, and I think people just got (laughs) tired of taking their kids to the doctor. So you don't see them that much anymore, and especially up and over a swing.

Gripe Of The Week

My gripe of the week, of the month, of the year, of the century, is what the cable company is going to do to my absolutely perfect lawn. You remember the story of my lawn?

We had to get rid of all the grass, and then we had to rake the whole lawn. Then we had like nine yards of topsoil delivered, that we had to wheelbarrow all across the lawn. My wheelbarrow had a flat tire. My wife was watering that lawn every day with a handheld hose. And now, it's a Zoysia lawn, and it's just absolutely perfect, and I'm so proud of it. And then I got the news that the cable company is putting in fiber cable, and instead of hanging it up on a telephone pole or something, they're going be tunneling down the edge of our streets. Grumpy is not happy.

About Ask Grumpy

Ask Grumpy is a podcast featuring Steve Bender, also known as Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener. For more than 30 years, Grumpy has been sharing advice on what to grow, when to plant, and how to manage just about anything in your garden. Tune in for short episodes every Wednesday and Saturday as Grumpy answers reader questions, solves seasonal conundrums, and provides need-to-know advice for gardeners with his very Grumpy sense of humor. Be sure to follow Ask Grumpy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss an episode.

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.