Japanese quince: planting and care in the suburbs, the best varieties

General characteristics

Japanese quince is an ornamental shrub of amazing beauty, widely used in horticulture, floriculture and landscape design. Indeed, plants are rare that can simultaneously decorate flower beds, flower beds and at the same time delight with delicious fruits. Quince blooms with large (3-4 cm in diameter), most often double flowers, of a diverse color palette: from white or slightly pinkish to orange-red. The color of the flowers depends on the variety, and today there are several dozen of them.

The shape of the flowers is also quite original. Petals can be round, ovoid or pear-shaped, convex or concave, which makes the inflorescences unusually beautiful. Quince leaves are no less decorative than flowers. They are of medium size (3-5 cm long and 3-4 cm wide), obovate, narrowed at the base, even, sometimes serrated at the edges. Leaf blades are glossy, bright green above and slightly lighter below, petioles are short.

An adult quince bush can reach a height of 3 meters, but it all depends on the climate of the region where quince grows and on the variety of varieties.

We often meet decorative forms with a height of 0,8-1,5 m, which are distinguished by lush and long flowering, as well as an unusual color of flowers and greenery. Quince branches are slightly scaly, sometimes with short spines. Young shoots are green, felt type, with time they become gray, and then black-brown in color.

Japanese quince fruits ripen in autumn. Outwardly, they resemble a pear or apple, with a slightly bumpy peel. In some countries, Japanese quince is called the “northern lemon” because of the bright lemon-yellow color and sour taste of the fruit, which is due to the high content of ascorbic acid. Inside each fruit is a huge number of small seeds. Quince pulp is tart in taste, so the fruits are rarely eaten fresh, but they are great for making jams, marmalades and other delicacies.

The shrub begins to bear fruit 3-4 years after planting. Fruiting is regular, up to 3 kg of medicinal fruits can be collected from one bush annually. Of course, Japanese quince is a heat-loving plant, but among the whole variety of varieties there are several that can tolerate very low temperatures – up to -30 ° C. These are mainly decorative forms used in the design of landscape space. In general, Japanese quince is a versatile and unpretentious culture. It pleases with its flowering for a long time, bears fruit from self-pollination, and the life of the shrub is calculated in decades.

Video “Description”

From the video you will learn a lot of interesting things about this tree.

Variety Selection Criteria

When choosing the best varieties of Japanese quince for the Moscow region, winter-hardy interspecific hybrids should be preferred, which include the following:

• Nivalis (Nivalis) – an impressive size (up to 1,5 m), a powerful shrub with dense foliage and beautiful pale white flowers;
• Simonii (Simonii) – a very beautiful densely leafy shrub with dark red flowers and yellow-green fruits typical of the Japanese variety of quince;
• Geisha Girl (Geisha Girl) – a powerful sprawling shrub up to 1,5 m high with beautiful double flowers of cream or peach color;
• Pink Lady (Pink Lady) – a fast-growing, but rather compact shrub with pink or crimson flowers, lends itself well to formation, tolerates light shade;
• Fascination (Charm) – a powerful, spreading shrub with somewhat unusual for the Japanese quince, but truly charming flowers of a dark purple color, collected in groups or inflorescences.

Terms and rules of landing

The main point in planting Japanese quince is the choice of location. The site for growing crops should be sunny and protected from the wind – in such a place the shrub will bloom more magnificently, and the ripening fruits will be sweeter and more fragrant. Quince has no special requirements for the composition of the soil, the main thing is that it is not acidic (maximum pH 6,5). The drainage properties of the soil matter – quince grows better in loose soil, in which moisture does not linger for a long time.

Since the root system of the bush is quite deep, young seedlings no more than two years old should be chosen for planting. It is better if they are with a closed root system. However, if you purchase an ornamental bush in a specialized store or nursery, then it will most likely be in a pot. Such plants take root more easily, since it is possible to transplant them along with the substrate, and besides, they are technically easier to transplant.

When planting Japanese quince seedlings, the following recommendations should be followed:

• plant young shrubs in mid-spring, when the soil warms up enough;
• when planting in groups, keep the distance between the bushes: for fruiting and garden design – 1-1,5 m, for growing hedges – 0,7-0,8 m;
• the standard size of the landing pit should be 30-40 cm in diameter and 50 cm deep;
• when planting, a third of the hole must be filled with a nutrient mixture consisting of 0,5 buckets of humus, 0,3-0,5 kg of ash and 300 g of superphosphate;
• pour a thin layer of soil over the fertilizers (to prevent contact of the roots with fertilizers);
• mark the seedling in the planting hole vertically, straighten the roots – the root neck should be flush with the soil surface;
• cover with earth manually, slightly compacting each layer;
• at the end, the seedling should be plentifully watered under the root (1 bucket / bush);
• if desired, the trunk circle can be mulched.

Features of care

Despite its exotic nature, Japanese quince does not need any special care. She has enough standard activities that are simple and easy to do:

• the plant loves moisture, so you need to water often and plentifully, especially in hot summer weather;
• quince tolerates severe frosts well without shelter, however, in a very harsh winter, it is advisable to cover the roots with a spruce forest, and also bend the branches to the ground, and then cover them – if some shoots are still frozen, they should be cut in the spring;
• Japanese quince needs to be cut regularly – ornamental shrubs are cut several times during the season to give shape, fruit-bearing – twice a season: sanitary pruning in spring, and shaping pruning in autumn;
• quince begin to feed 2 years after planting.

You need to know that Japanese quince, planting and caring for which in the Moscow region necessarily include regular top dressing, does not tolerate liquid fertilizers well. The best option for her is leaf humus, wood ash, as well as mineral mixtures containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in dry or granular form. Trunk circles of shrubs can be mulched with peat, sawdust, or any other organic material.

Major diseases and prevention measures

Japanese quince is a very disease and pest resistant plant, but it is not always possible to completely eliminate the risk of disease and damage, since the shrub usually grows next to other horticultural and ornamental crops. So, when grown in a garden, the stem part and branches can be damaged by an apple scale insect, and bright fragrant buds by a bud weevil or leafworm. Quince leaves, due to the proximity of fruit crops, sometimes become the prey of various mites, apple aphids, moths and other garden pests. Of the diseases, fungal diseases are the most common.

How to protect a beautiful tree from these misfortunes? The focus should be on prevention first. It is necessary to process shrubs twice a season: in early spring and autumn, before wintering.

Against fungal diseases and bacterial flora in spring, plants are sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture or fungicides for ornamental and flower plants (Fundazol). From damage and decay of buds, drugs (Kemifos, Horus) are effective, which are used during the formation of buds.

Decorative forms intended only for flowering can be processed several times per season. If the fruits of quince will be eaten, then spraying is not carried out during their ovary and ripening. After harvesting, autumn pruning should be done: remove all diseased branches, give shape to ornamental shrubs. Then collect and burn all the branches and leaves – do not leave organic remains on the ground, as they often contain fungal spores and pest larvae. Follow these simple rules of care, and your quince will delight you with beautiful flowers and healthy fruits for many years.

Video “Landing and care”

From the video you will learn how to plant and care for this fruit tree.