I'm asking this after reading an article in today's NY Times on quince trees and fruits.

Here's the details...

I was given a quince bush about 10 years ago...it was growing poorly in a shady spot, so I was given the opportunity to dig it up and replant it at my house in a near-full sun location.

I don't know the variety...if it's meant to be a bush habit or a tree habit, dwarf, etc.

I did not think far ahead into the future and sited it poorly. It's kinda jammed in between some evergreen shrubs in the front corner of my house, southeast. Like I said, near-full sun. It has grown shrubby and has invaded into the evergreens behind it. I trim the thorny branches that stick out into my path.

I'm wondering if I can severely cut it back to a main stem and train it up to low tree. I'm happy to clear out the low growing evergreens behind it. If not, I'd like some direction (web site instructions) on how and when to move it.

Thanks,
Geoff in RI

Since you say "bush" I am going to assume you mean flowering quince, Chaenomeles. Yes, I am sure you could select one vigorous stalk and train it into a low standard -- you can do this with most shrubs.

The only downside I see to that is you will be fighting a LOT of suckers from the roots all of the time, since nature wanted it to be a multi-stemmed shrub. One way I have dealt with that situation in the past is to put some VERY heavy, dense material on the ground around the trunk of the selected stem, kept an inch or two back from the trunk, and then thick organic mulch over the top -- this seems to stop the majority of the suckers from growing, and you can hand-trim the few that come up around the trunk. A couple of layers of old carpet (that is what I have used), some black rubber/vinyl pond liner with small holes punched in it for drainage, a couple of thicknesses of 6 mil black poly, or possibly one of those recycled-tire "tree rings" should work.

Good luck, sounds do-able to me.

For you current plant, you could prune it now just to keep it in check but it might be better to wait until fall to move it and then hard prune it. You will lose quite a few roots in the process, that is why it should not be moved during the active growing season.

PS I saw the korean market had some quince fruit for sale in my area this week. Seems like everything like pomegranates etc that come out at weird times of the season are grown in Chili. I'll have to check the label where they from this week.

Three main genera of plants fall into the 'quince' moniker.
Cydonia oblonga - the small tree species commonly accepted in Europe as the true quince - a number of different selections, made for fruit size/quality - Smyrna, Pineapple, Orange, Aromatnaya, etc.
Chaenomeles spp. - the 'flowering quince' - some of which may fruit heavily. I grew up eating those hard green/yellow incredibly sour things from a particularly productive strain my grandmother grew. Flower color can vary from white to red to orange/peach.
Pseudocydonia chinensis - the 'Chinese quince' - produces a large firm sour fruit - and is a nice ornamental as well, with spring bloom, great fall color display, and interesting exfoliating bark, resembling some of the crape myrtles.
Chaenomeles and Pseudocydonia fruits can be substituted for the fruits of Cydonia in recipes for quince marmalade, etc.