Pruning Quince

azurskies

18 years ago

I live in the Alpes Maritime near Nice. When is the correct time to prune Quince and how hard should I prune them?

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Comments (2)

mdvaden_of_oregon
18 years ago
Long time since the post, with no answer.

I'm just browsing other region forums, but I'll leave an answer in case anyone else is curious.

Flowering Quince can take a bit of a "beating".

Now, it blooms the following year on what was the new growth of the previous year.

So cutting ends off in winter is not good. Let it bloom, then prune.

I have a table on my site, but can't put the link on this forum.

If you type a search on my user name written the way you think it should be written without the dash marks, look for my site URL and pick the pruning page - scroll down.
Bob (Seattle, Zone 8a)
15 years ago
Not sure the question was about flowering quince though - if it was about true quince, the fruiting one, then you should prune after harvest but just enough to keep the tree from being too dense and get rid of dead wood. The fruit is borne on the younger wood so if you prune too much you won't get much of a crop the next year. But if the tree is really old an overgrown you can cut it back fairly drastically and it will rejuvenate.
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When the tree has ceased growing for the year. If you prune now, some new growth may emerge at the pruning point. February at the latest, before new buds form. I always wait until winter when all the leaves are down, making it easier to see the structure, but your 3-year old tree is probably not that complicated.
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Thanks so much for the prompt, thoughtful replies, all of which are helpful. The pear tree and sucker is a real possibility, but I also may have ordered a quince a few years ago and lost track of it through the moving I've done. The advice about the drastic pruning is helpful. This tree hadn't done much because of moving it (and probably pruning a little because of the move) This year, it has at least doubled in size. My plan is to keep all three trunks, severely prune and keep the center uncluttered. I guess if I ever get fruit on all three trunks, it will let me know if the grafted pear scenario is true. If I get quince on all three trunks.......then I guess I have a quince tree!! Thanks again for the help. Ray
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It depends the best time to prune is in the fall but if you don't mind a hacked bush through the summer you can prune after blooming.
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Pruning Quince

Comments (2)

mdvaden_of_oregon

Bob (Seattle, Zone 8a)

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