Pyracantha (firethorn) is grown mainly for its showy display of red, orange or yellow fruit in the autumn and winter.
Wall-trained shrubs
Spring pruning concentrates on cutting back outward growing shoots and shortening other growth. This will remove some of the flowering wood, but this can be limited by waiting until the flower buds appear.
Summer pruning simply involves shortening the new growth to two or three leaves beyond the fruit clusters to expose the developing berries to the ripening effect of the sun.
Hedges
Prune as for wall-trained shrubs. After the spring pruning Pyracantha hedges can be clipped over two or three times in the summer to maintain a formal outline, but this will inevitably remove some of the berries.
NB Wear thick gloves when pruning firethorns as the spines are very sharp.