Do you want to grow a charming shrub on your site that will delight you with neat shapes, bright flowers in the spring, and juicy fruits in the summer? Then decorative quince is your ideal choice. In another way it is called Japanese genomeles. This plant is a low, sprawling deciduous shrub, prickly and quite attractive. Height - from 0.3 to 1 meter, while it can be adjusted during cropping. With the proper level of skill, this plant is quite suitable as a low decorative fence or border.
Appearance
Decorative quince is a genus of flowering plants from the Pink family. In the wild, it is widely found in Japan and China. Its leaves are oval, leathery, smooth and shiny, dark green, serrated at the edges. The flowers are very large, about 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter. When several bushes grow nearby, the sight turns out to be very spectacular.
In central Russia, flowers appear in late May - early June. Flowering is long, very long. You will have enough time to admire the magnificent garden. Fruits form and ripen early enough. The plant itself is frost-resistant, despite its roots, it tolerates winter well.
Choosing a place to land
In fact, this is not as whimsical a plant as it might seem at first glance. Decorative quince willingly grows on almost any soil. However, when choosing a place to land, be sure to make sure that it is sunny and protected from the cold wind. It is very good if in this place a lot of snow accumulates in the winter. This is usually the leeward side of the building, sheltered by the walls from the winter wind.
Flooded and low sections are categorically not suitable. Henomeles tolerates drought, so if you rarely visit your suburban area, decorative quince will be an ideal option to decorate it and give a finished look to the landscape. But excess water is detrimental to plants. If your site is in a lowland, and the soil contains a lot of clay, then be sure to build embankments, strengthen them, and then plant the bush.
The composition of the soil is not too demanding shrub. However, on alkaline soils, it is affected by chlorosis and may die. The ideal option is slightly acidic soils. The plant is small, with a developed root system, which allows you to get food and moisture from a depth, which means that you can do without additional watering and feeding.
Shrub wintering
Usually without additional warming decorative quince winters well. The photo shows us that this is a miniature shrub whose branches lie almost close to the ground. This is what allows them to be saved from frost. However, if the winter is very harsh and there is little snow, the branches located above the snow cover may suffer. As a result, it will take them a long time to recover or regrow. The plant loses time and is late with the ripening of the fruit.
To preserve the branches as much as possible, bend them to the ground, pressing them with stones. Top can be covered with hay. Then, even with a small layer of snow cover, the shrub will winter well. Additional sheltering needs to be carried out in those regions where frequent winds blow snow.
Dressing
Usually, in the area where one quince bush appeared, a hedge from this shrub soon grows, since it is very difficult to refuse such beauty. Decorative quince (photos are given in the article) are most often grouped into a long hedge, which acts as a kind of screen. In this case, there is never a feeling of crowding or thickening. Plants know exactly the framework in which they need to grow and develop.
Get ready for the fact that all the neighbors will ask you how much such beauty cost. The question is logical, if we take into account the price tags for the seedlings of this plant. However, this is just superfluous. Just ask someone you know for a few ripe fruits. From seeds, it is not difficult to grow as many plants as you need.
This shrub is incredibly beautiful at any time of the year. During flowering, the bush seems to be blazing, strewn with bright flowers. And in the fall, like a fairy tree, it is covered with yellow fruits, very healthy and tasty. They need to be removed before the onset of seasonal frost. However, we were a little distracted. Consider how to grow a plant and care for it.
Growing plants from seeds
We have already talked about several options that you can use to grow decorative quince on your site. Reproduction occurs by dividing the bush, offspring, cuttings or seeds. If you have ripe fruits of the plant, then you can eat the pulp and sow the seeds before winter. The bed must be mulled with manure.
With the onset of spring, the first shoots will appear. During this period, young plants need to be fed with infusion of mullein diluted in water in a proportion of 1:15. When the shoots give 2-3 leaves, it is recommended to peek.
Spring work
Material for planting can be prepared from the fall. If you have ready-made seedlings, then lay them in the ground, slightly digging the roots. Lower the seedlings into the basement, and there they will calmly wait for spring. If in the fall you got ripe fruits, then plant the seeds in the warm earth. With good care, after a year you will have sufficiently strong seedlings that can be transferred to open ground.
So, how is Japanese decorative quince planted. Photos, landing and care which are shown in sufficient detail, usually show us an early spring. It was at this time, until the buds were full, that the seedling should be moved to a permanent place of residence. If you are a little late with the landing, then you can move it to the fall. Do not deepen the seedling during planting, then you can adjust the ground level with mulch. The distance between the rows should be 2.5-3 meters, and in the row you can leave a distance between plants of 1 meter. And if you want to create a hedge effect, it is recommended to place the plantings more tightly.
Watering and feeding
And here you have on the site appeared Japanese quince decorative. Planting is completed, now it remains to see that the shrub grows healthy, develops and bears fruit. Previously, you dug up the earth to a depth of 40-60 cm and applied fertilizer. Around the bushes a basal circle is formed, which must be well watered. Now you can forget about watering for several weeks. And if the weather is not too hot, then for a month.
The first feeding is carried out during the period of active flowering. If the landing was carried out in mid-April, then about a month later. To do this, you can use the following mixture: for 10 liters of water, 15 g of double superphosphate, 30 g of urea, 15 g of potassium sulfate. It perfectly accepts quince and bird droppings, but you need to be careful with the proportions so as not to burn the roots.
Autumn pruning
When the summer ends, and the ripe fruits are removed from the branches, it is time to make sure that the plants normally tolerate the cold period. If you are looking for an unpretentious shrub, then a Japanese quince will be a great option. Planting and care in the open ground is reduced to the correct choice of place, preparation of the landing pit, as well as autumn pruning. However, many complain that, despite all efforts, they are not able to grow beautiful bushes. Such that they did not stick out in all directions with dry branches, bloomed plentifully and bore fruit well.
As a rule, the main mistake is the wrong place of planting: the bushes are too shaded, they chose a damp lowland or the plant suffers from a draft. If everything is done correctly, it means that you did not pay attention to henomelis in the autumn period.
Pruning is done after the crop is taken, before the first frost. Take with you clippers, pruners and go out into the garden. It is necessary to correct an even line of bushes planted in a row. It is necessary to remove all dried, broken and old branches that differ well in the dark bark. If there are branches that are too puffy around or too long, sticking out of the general ensemble, be sure to delete them. These plants undergo pruning completely painlessly, and with the onset of the warm season they will surely win back everything that was taken from them.
Some features
It is not necessary to pick up a pruner during the summer. At this time, decorative quince is actively growing, flowering and bearing fruit. Pruning will make it possible to keep the bushes in order. Toward the fall, tillering is inhibited, so you can pre-cut all injured branches. Repeatedly a deeper procedure is performed after all the fruits have been collected. You can’t leave them for the winter. Be sure to wear tight gloves, because the bush has thorns.
This plant is able to realize the wildest fantasies of the gardener. Single bushes, stunning hedges, as well as a unique bonsai - Japanese quince is perfect for creating stunning compositions. It takes time, but it's worth it.
Fruit use
An amazing plant is the Japanese quince decorative. Photos (planting and care, the beneficial properties of delicious fruits fully justifies) will delight you. The gardener does not spend too much effort to get a bush, hung with yellow "apples" by autumn. The fruits are great for jam and compotes, they are added to tea instead of lemon. Jam and compote, as well as fruit salads, have good taste.
Genomeles is a very useful dietary product. It does not contain fats, but at the same time it contains a lot of copper and ascorbic acid, potassium and pectin substances. It is an excellent antioxidant, which also reduces blood cholesterol and helps lower blood pressure.