Flowering quince (Chaenomeles). If you grow flowering quince maybe you should not follow general recommendations

What is the fuss about? It is an ornamental tree, so it should be pruned in the fall after blooming. Right? This is the exact advice I got when I was purchasing a Japanese quince for my garden. And you know what? Is not exactly true…

Maybe that is why some quinces do not bloom and others grow too much. But to summarize, in Central Europe you can mainly get three most common species: Japanese chaenomeles(Chaenomeles japonica, syn. Cydonia maulei),beautiful chaenomeles(Chaenomeles x superba) and Chaenomeles speciosa, syn. Chaenomeles lagenaria). And each of them needs to be pruned differently.

Japanese quince needs a light summer pruning

If you have Chaenomeles japonica you can more or less follow the recommendation. It blooms in summer and once its beauty fades, it is time to pick up the garden shears. Excessive pruning is not necessary. It grows into a compact shape (which is okay), but you should certainly make sure that it is not too dense. All crossing branches and those growing in the same direction must go, as well as visibly weak and diseased shoots. And if any branch disturbs the desired shape, cut it.

Chaenomeles speciosa does not like pruning

Sometimes it is also called Chinese chaenomeles. Flowers are only on shoots which are two or more years older, so too frequent pruning will deprive you of flowers. Only weak and damaged parts of the plant should be removed.

Chaenomeles superba likes a rejuvenating cut

This beauty will love you if you perform early spring pruning. But again only remove unsightly or infected branches. Do not shorten too much. This plant does not like too short branches (only if absolutely necessary). The rejuvenation cut should be done once about every five years.

Photo: Pixabay