Monty Don: Quince among men | From the Observer | guardian.co.uk:
Growing quinces successfully depends upon rich, wet soil, although Jane Grigson says they do well in 'the driest of upland fields and the hottest of small village gardens' in France. Certainly they need sunshine, but don't gamble on the dry-upland bit. If you have a wet patch of ground they will reward you for it. Order or buy a quince now (it is worth shopping around the net and nurseries for the variety you want) and plant it between now and March. Plant it like any other fruit tree - with care but not reverence, digging a wide, but not too deep hole, loosening the subsoil and adding no organic material below the roots but plenty as a mulch on the surface in a 1m-radius around the tree. It will need staking for its first three years but no special care or pruning again in its life other than keeping it weed-free.
Quince trees are self-fertile - so you can have just one and expect it to fruit - and grown on their own rootstock. Pears are almost inevitably grown on quince roots as well. This keeps pears small, whereas on its own roots a pear tree wants to become a large, even magnificent tree, more like a full-grown ash or beech than a back-garden bush. Quince tames and reduces it with three possible measures of quince-vigour 'A', 'B' or 'C'. A few pear varieties, such as 'Williams' Bon Chrétien', are incompatible with quince and have to have an intermediary graft or 'interstock' to connect the rootstock with the scion which is compatible with both quince and pear. This is called 'double-worked' and makes the tree more expensive, as it adds a year on to its nursery life.
On its own roots, quince is sprawly and gangly and it is a waste of time trying to clip or prune it to your preconceived ideas of beauty. Go with it. Be astonished at the blossom.
Be unreasonably proud of the fruit. Drink in the incredible fragrance with which a single quince can seduce a room and feast on its pomaded sweetness. It will, I promise, brighten your northern sky.
Pruning.
Pruning shapes the young tree for the future, and this needs to be started at the earliest stage of its growth. Ideally the trunk should be kept stout at around 60 cm., and allow four to five main branches grow keeping them to about 50 cm. These lower branches will give a strong framework to the tree and be the basis for the shape of the future tree. With this framework established the fruit is easily accessible for harvesting. Experienced Mornington Peninsula orchardist, Barry Pontifex works to a well-proven philosophy when pruning his trees. Once the centre of a young tree has been cleared, the branches are pruned to an outward facing bud, with the intention to encourage next year’s new growth to grow upward and outward to maintain a vase shape to the tree. It should not be allowed to extend too far because of the eventual weight of the fruit. This has to be done every year and there is a degree of chance involved in the direction that the new shoots are going to take in the next season. If they do not grow as planned they can be easily corrected the following year.
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Growing quinces successfully depends upon rich, wet soil, although Jane Grigson says they do well in 'the driest of upland fields and the hottest of small village gardens' in France. Certainly they need sunshine, but don't gamble on the dry-upland bit. If you have a wet patch of ground they will reward you for it. Order or buy a quince now (it is worth shopping around the net and nurseries for the variety you want) and plant it between now and March. Plant it like any other fruit tree - with care but not reverence, digging a wide, but not too deep hole, loosening the subsoil and adding no organic material below the roots but plenty as a mulch on the surface in a 1m-radius around the tree. It will need staking for its first three years but no special care or pruning again in its life other than keeping it weed-free.
Quince trees are self-fertile - so you can have just one and expect it to fruit - and grown on their own rootstock. Pears are almost inevitably grown on quince roots as well. This keeps pears small, whereas on its own roots a pear tree wants to become a large, even magnificent tree, more like a full-grown ash or beech than a back-garden bush. Quince tames and reduces it with three possible measures of quince-vigour 'A', 'B' or 'C'. A few pear varieties, such as 'Williams' Bon Chrétien', are incompatible with quince and have to have an intermediary graft or 'interstock' to connect the rootstock with the scion which is compatible with both quince and pear. This is called 'double-worked' and makes the tree more expensive, as it adds a year on to its nursery life.
On its own roots, quince is sprawly and gangly and it is a waste of time trying to clip or prune it to your preconceived ideas of beauty. Go with it. Be astonished at the blossom.
Be unreasonably proud of the fruit. Drink in the incredible fragrance with which a single quince can seduce a room and feast on its pomaded sweetness. It will, I promise, brighten your northern sky.
Pruning.
Pruning shapes the young tree for the future, and this needs to be started at the earliest stage of its growth. Ideally the trunk should be kept stout at around 60 cm., and allow four to five main branches grow keeping them to about 50 cm. These lower branches will give a strong framework to the tree and be the basis for the shape of the future tree. With this framework established the fruit is easily accessible for harvesting. Experienced Mornington Peninsula orchardist, Barry Pontifex works to a well-proven philosophy when pruning his trees. Once the centre of a young tree has been cleared, the branches are pruned to an outward facing bud, with the intention to encourage next year’s new growth to grow upward and outward to maintain a vase shape to the tree. It should not be allowed to extend too far because of the eventual weight of the fruit. This has to be done every year and there is a degree of chance involved in the direction that the new shoots are going to take in the next season. If they do not grow as planned they can be easily corrected the following year.
'via Blog this'
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