what kind of bush , shrub , or vine is this ?

this bush or what ever it is , is about 12 to 15 feet tall. the small white flowers smell kinda like a magnolia tree , it is very very viney , and has huge thorns on it . so my questions are as follows :

1. what is it ?

2. how far can i cut it back ?

3. is it evergreen ?

4. what is the best way to cut it ?

i have tried an extendable hedge trimmer but it is difficult to cut with all the viney limbs.

oh , yeh the leaves almost look like a holly plant . any help is greatly appreciated . thanks .

 

hmm.. maybe how do you spell it.. pyracantha? Does it get red berries on it?

Here is a link with photos http://home.att.net/~larvalbugrex/pyracantha.html You should remember when pruning that the flowers and berries only form on wood older than 1 year.

 

i dont know i just got this contract . i dont know if it has berries i do know it has very sweet smelling tiny white flowers with like yellowish brown spots on them.

 

i just looked up a pic of Pyracantha and that aint it .

 

Elaegnus, if you ask me...

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/Syllabus2/factsheet.cfm?ID=834

 

thanks , that is exactly what it is her is the same pic that i have :


http://www.californiagardens.com/Plant_Pages/elaeagnus_pungens.htm


now how far back can it be trimmed ?

what is the best way ?

 

With thorns like that picture, it needs cutting off at the top of the ground...

Gene

 

no doubt i would love to but the cust wants it to look good ,lol .

 

Ohhhh so that's what y'all call those plants with the Jesus thorns... I've always called them Jesus thorn bushes.

I always wondered what the botanical name for them was, but my name comes from if you ever step in one, you'll know what I mean.

If it wasn't for that, I would've said it's a Holly, but the thorn gave it away.

Far as how far back you can take them, LOL, first take off all those shoots, then:
Pick an inconspicuous area and take it back some, then some more and keep doing that until you hit bare. That's how far.
As a general rule, 4-6 inches should be the cover of leaves, thou it can be as much as 8-10, you want to trim a little at a time.

The other way to do it is stick your hand in there (LOL) and part the bush so then you can SEE how far back the leaf cover goes.

By the way, get a BIG cordura/dernier tarp and a rake so you don't gotta touch that schitt to clean it up. You want a big enough tarp so you can drag it along the ground, you do NOT want to load this on your back like Santa Claus.

But if it's got red berries then it's a Holly (could be a pyracantha or whatever, we just call them hollies), like so:
http://www.ga.k12.md.us/Schools/Hickory/Images-Hickory/hickory-holly bush.jpg
But as you can see, no jesus thorns.

 

Well all I can say is,cut off the long stalks all around the top of each shrub to where you can see the darker green growth.I would start with this then do more in spring.Do not remove a majority of the shrubs green growth at one time,just the new growth and any branches that are sticking way out.
Its hard to see here but I tried anyway