My sad quince

[Ryan820]

I had planted this quince in my garden when it was apparent life was going to keep me too busy to really care for this tree as well as others.. That was three years ago. However this past winter was brutal on my quince... Cold, drying winds.... Severe low temps for weeks and not in the best soil.

So this is what's left:


Bonsai 2014 by oryan820, on Flickr

Now, I know flowering quince don't really bulk up like a maple or an elm and so I was happy to see that this guy has a decent trunk but still not very impressive.

I removed it from its home before it leafed out much more than this as many of the buds have not yet opened. I removed a fair bit of roots but it still had many fine ones that remained. I don't have it in the best soil but the soil is pretty light and airy... I am still trying to figure out where I can get the ingredients for making better soil.

I plan on letting it grow and rest and when I do get better soil I plan on planting it in a larger box.

Where do I go from here? Should I do any styling? My gut tells me know... Just let the plant get big again.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Winter was harsh for so many...I am to new to pipe in what I would think...but am curious...I have a couple options running through my head...and wish to see what others say...to see if I've learned anything so far.

Braving it...to say...an air layer of the bottom branch. Because I do not know how well these back bud...and if the left side of your tree will recover with branches.

Not sure angle of the tree and the trunk...but, also pondered a semi cascade... But think ones would opt to offer an air layer.

So am I way off base guys?

 

[GrimLore]

I would not touch it for a full season except for getting it healthy and strong. If it responds well or at all nobody could know. I do know however I would just care for it until it is healthy and then decide.

Grimmy

 

[Cadillactaste]

I would not touch it for a full season except for getting it healthy and strong. If it responds well or at all nobody could know. I do no however I would just care for it until it is healthy and then decide.

Grimmy

Good point that slipped my mind...a strong healthy plant! (Face palm)

 

[Ryan820]

Thanks all!

So I have been accused of being an optimist before... and the same goes with my gardening and trees... BUT, the parts on this tree that are growing are growing GREAT already. For those branches that winter didn't prune, they seem to be robust.... but I think what's been said is good... it will recover and grow this season.

Do you think the root pruning I've done would harm the tree? My guess is no because quince don't seem phased by much and the top was greatly reduced by winter dieback. Meh... time will tell!

 

[JudyB]

My gut tells me know... Just let the plant get big again.

Ryan, your gut is right on this one... feed it and let it grow. If the soil is still draining well, I wouldn't repot this year.

 

[Ryan820]

Thanks for the confirmation, Judy!

Also, here are two crabs that winter severely pruned. I don't know what's up with this past winter but it killed off a lot of things around here.

I plan the same treatment for these trees. The fuller crab Malus Radiant, has impressive roots/nebari potential... though it's not pictured here.

All are in free-draining soils... but it has a lot of perlite and peat due to our dry climate-- figured they'd need the extra moisture content day-to-day.

 

[GrimLore]

Is it possible something was eating them all? Seems like "more then normal" damage...

Grimmy

 

[dick benbow]

Regarding the quince,when it appears to be putting out lots of nice healthy growth, giving conviction that it has accepted it's new circumstances, don't be afraid to clip the new growth at about the second or third new cluster of leaves. That way you get some redirection to the new growth and maybe encourage more new growth elsewhere.
I'm just afraid because you fear for it's well being and with all the advice to let it get healthy,
you'll end up with long extensions that will have to be cut back eventually anyway.
If you can position it to receive the morning sun and be protected from the heat of the afternoon sun, I think it would help it's situation. Quince like their moisture, so try and keep it hydrated and don't let it flag for lack of it. Any new growth up from the roots to change your single trunk to kabudacki (clump style) needs to be removed immediately. We want all the strength going up the existing trunk.
Here's a picture of the fertilizer i use on all my quince. It goes into a bulk loose leaf tea bag
and gets released each watering. It's minor in amount but with daily watering is always there
when needed. I change the bags about once a month.

 

[JudyB]

Do you know how large the rootballs are in relation to the pots? It appears from the pics that you may be overpotting. Which can lead to other problems. This winter was harsh, all you can do is move on, and plan better protection for the next one...
Plants will grow, the damage will eventually not be as evident.

 

[Poink88]

Regarding the quince,when it appears to be putting out lots of nice healthy growth, giving conviction that it has accepted it's new circumstances, don't be afraid to clip the new growth at about the second or third new cluster of leaves. That way you get some redirection to the new growth and maybe encourage more new growth elsewhere.
I'm just afraid because you fear for it's well being and with all the advice to let it get healthy,
you'll end up with long extensions that will have to be cut back eventually anyway.

I agree.

Here is one I recently butchered and re-potted. It will be pinched/pruned back every time it get 5 or so leaves back to 2. I just did that on one of my quince actually.

Original and a virt of where I pruned it back to. It is now planted on a much shallower bulb pot also.

 

[Ryan820]

Is it possible something was eating them all? Seems like "more then normal" damage...

Grimmy

Sure it's possible-- though they were all in a protected garden (keep the deer out!). But who knows what might have gotten to them. The damage I've seen seems to not involve the roots at all and the "pruning' I mention were dead branches I cut off...sorry if I gave the wrong impression that something other than harsh weather was pruning-- nothing was physically removed from the trees except by me.

 

[Ryan820]

Do you know how large the rootballs are in relation to the pots? It appears from the pics that you may be overpotting. Which can lead to other problems. This winter was harsh, all you can do is move on, and plan better protection for the next one...
Plants will grow, the damage will eventually not be as evident.

Judy--

the roots do extend roughly 2/3s into the pot-- but you're right, it may be over-potted-- the trouble with using what you have on hand! Although now that I htink of it, I do have smaller pots that are used for nursery stock (think of those black pots everyone tries to toss after a landscape job). Perhaps that would be better? It would definitely be smaller.

 

[Ryan820]

I agree.

Here is one I recently butchered and re-potted. It will be pinched/pruned back every time it get 5 or so leaves back to 2. I just did that on one of my quince actually.

Original and a virt of where I pruned it back to. It is now planted on a much shallower bulb pot also.

Nice! Ok.. I'll take that advice and do some light trimming. At this point I just want it to vote YES on living. So if they'll help then I'm game.

 

[Ryan820]

BTW-- is it true that flowering quince don't seem to benefit from growing out in the ground or large pots? I cannot recall where (I'll try looking for it) but I read once that quince are slow to put on a thick trunk and so growing it out won't help much.

I'm just smitten with their beautiful leafless flower look and love how interestingly they grow.

 

[Beng]

Let the soil dry out more. I have a feeling you're keeping it too wet. Quince will not grow most of spring if you keep them wet 24/7.

 

[fredtruck]

It takes years for most cultivars of flowering quince to bulk up trunk-wise. Contorted flowering quince will develop a nice trunk, and toyo nishiki will. Read Evergreen Gardenworks catalog of quince. Brent will tell you which ones are good for developing trunks.

 

[Ryan820]

Let the soil dry out more. I have a feeling you're keeping it too wet. Quince will not grow most of spring if you keep them wet 24/7.

I had just potted it up... The soil was devoid of any moisture (sat in my garage for many months) so I only watered it once. It's only been in the pot for a day now. Thankfully when I gave it a lift today it was quite light! Good sign to me because the soil was moist (not wet). The photo was taken right after watering it.

 

[Ryan820]

It takes years for most cultivars of flowering quince to bulk up trunk-wise. Contorted flowering quince will develop a nice trunk, and toyo nishiki will. Read Evergreen Gardenworks catalog of quince. Brent will tell you which ones are good for developing trunks.

This is in fact from Brent and is a toyo nishiki! I also have a nishiki improved. This tree has been in my care for three years and when I got it, it was a thin twig of a cutting. So really not so bad for its size! At this point I just want to make the plant happy. I didn't prune it tonight...ran out of time.

 

[JudyB]

At this point I just want to make the plant happy. I didn't prune it tonight...ran out of time.

I really think that you'll want to just leave it alone for a while. Let it regain it's vigor before you start taking off parts that can help it get back to healthy. You'll have plenty of time to prune after a season of growth... But not so much if it dies.