Do you want to grow a charming shrub on your site that will delight you throughout the year with neat forms, bright flowers in spring, and juicy fruits in summer? Then decorative quince is your ideal choice. In another way, it is called Japanese chaenomeles. This plant is a low sprawling deciduous shrub, thorny and quite attractive. Height - from 0.3 to 1 meter, while it can be adjusted during trimming. With the proper level of skill, this plant will do well as a low decorative fence or border.
Appearance
Decorative quince is a genus of flowering plants from the Rosaceae family. It is widely found in the wild in Japan and China. Its leaves are oval, leathery, smooth and shiny, dark green in color, serrated along the edges. The flowers are very large, about 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter. When several bushes grow nearby, the spectacle is 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 to your heart's content. Fruitformed and ripened early enough. The plant itself is frost-resistant, despite its roots, it tolerates winter well.
Choosing a landing site
In fact, this is not such a whimsical plant as it might seem at first glance. Decorative quince readily grows on almost any soil. However, when choosing a landing site, be sure to pay attention that it is sunny and protected from the cold wind. It is very good if a lot of snow accumulates in this place in winter. This is usually the lee side of the building, securely covered with walls from the winter wind.
Flooded and low areas are categorically not suitable. Henomeles tolerates drought well, so if you rarely visit your suburban area, then decorative quince will be an ideal option to decorate it and give it 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 only then plant shrubs.
The shrub is not too picky about the composition of the soil. 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 the depths, which means it does without additional watering and top dressing.
Shrub Wintering
Usually excellent without additional insulationwintering quince ornamental. The photo shows us that this is a miniature shrub, the branches of which lie almost close to the ground. This is what keeps them warm from the cold. However, if the winter is very severe and there is little snow, then branches located above the snow cover may suffer. As a result, they will take a long time to recover or grow back. The plant is wasting time and delaying fruit ripening.
To save the branches as much as possible, bend them to the ground, pressing them with stones. Top with hay. Then, even with a small layer of snow cover, the shrub will overwinter well. Additional sheltering work should also be carried out in regions where frequent winds blow snow.
Decoration
Usually, in the area where one quince bush appeared, a hedge of this shrub will soon grow, since it is very difficult to refuse such beauty. Decorative quince (photos are given in the article) is most often grouped into a long hedge that acts as a kind of screen. At the same time, there is never a feeling of tightness or thickening. Plants know exactly the limits 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 seedlings of this plant. However, this is just redundant. Just ask someone you know for a few fruits with mature seeds. From seeds it is not difficult to grow so manyas many plants as you need.
This shrub is incredibly beautiful at any time of the year. During the flowering period, the bush seems to be blazing, strewn with bright flowers. And in autumn, like a fabulous Christmas tree, it is covered with yellow fruits, very he althy and tasty. They need to be removed before the onset of seasonal frosts. However, we digress a bit. 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, you can eat the pulp and sow the seeds before winter. The bed must be mulched 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 ratio of 1:15. When shoots give 2-3 leaves, it is recommended to pick them.
Spring work
Material for planting can be harvested from autumn. 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 warm soil. With good care, in a year you will have strong enough seedlings that can be transferred to open ground.
So, how Japanese decorative quince is planted. Photo, landing andcare, which are shown in sufficient detail, usually show us early spring. It was at this time, until the buds have blossomed, that the seedling must be transferred to a permanent place of residence. If you are a little late with the landing, then you can reschedule for the fall. It is not necessary to deepen the seedling during planting, then you can correct the ground level with the help of mulch. The distance between the rows should be 2.5-3 meters, and in the row you can leave the distance between plants 1 meter. And if you want to create the effect of a hedge, then it is recommended to place plantings more densely.
Water and fertilize
And now you have a decorative Japanese quince on your site. Planting is completed, now it remains to make sure that the shrub grows he althy, develops and bears fruit. Previously, you dug up the earth to a depth of 40-60 cm and applied fertilizer. A root circle is formed around the bushes, which must be well watered. Now you can forget about watering for a few 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 in about a month. 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. Quince and bird droppings are great, but you need to be careful with the proportions so as not to burn the roots.
Autumn pruning
When summer ends and the ripe fruits are taken from the branches, it's time to make sure that the plants endure the cold period normally. If you are looking for an unpretentious shrub, then Japanese decorative quince will be an excellent option. Planting and care in the open field comes down to choosing the right place, preparing the landing pit, and autumn pruning. However, many complain that, despite their best efforts, they fail to grow beautiful bushes. Such that dry branches do not stick out in all directions, bloom profusely and bear fruit well.
As a rule, the main mistake is the wrong landing site: bushes are too shaded, a damp lowland is chosen, or the plant suffers from a draft. If everything is done correctly, then you did not pay attention to chaenomelis in the autumn.
Pruning is done after harvest, before the first frost. Take your garden shears, pruner and go out into the garden. It is necessary to correct a straight line of bushes planted in a row. We have to remove all dried, broken and old branches, which are well distinguished by the dark bark. If there are branches that bristle strongly on the sides or are too long, standing out from the general ensemble, then be sure to remove them. These plants endure pruning completely painlessly, and with the onset of the warm season, they will definitely win back everything that was taken from them.
Some Features
During the summer, the secateurs are not required to be picked up. At this time, decorative quince actively grows, blooms and bears fruit. Pruning will make it possible to keep bushes inokay. Closer to autumn, tillering slows down, so you can pre-cut all injured branches. Repeatedly a deeper procedure is performed after all the fruits are collected. You can't leave them for the winter. Be sure to wear heavy gloves as the bush has thorns.
This plant is able to embody the most daring fantasies of the gardener. Single bushes, stunning hedges, and unique bonsai - the Japanese quince is perfect for creating stunning compositions. It takes time, but it's worth it.
Using fruits
An amazing plant is the Japanese ornamental quince. Photos (planting and care, the beneficial properties of delicious fruits fully justify) 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 jams and compotes, they are added to tea instead of lemon. Good taste has jam and compote, as well as fruit salads.
Chenomeles is a very useful product for dietary nutrition. It does not contain fat, 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 lowers blood cholesterol levels and helps lower blood pressure.
