Quince

[swampie sue]

Hi earlier this year I planted a 1 year old Quince tree, It arrived looking somewhat curved, just the main leader no branches. It has continued to grow in much the same way. I want to prune it into a much straighter tree but I don't want to stop it growing to a taller tree. HelpHow do I prune my curvy tree.

[BrideXIII]

wouldn't it be better to stake it, I did this with a bay tree that had a decided tilt, i wanted to grow it straight so i could do an oramental ball cut ( looks lovely now).
I used a thick stake, much thicker and stronger than the trunk of the plant, had the stake so that it just touched the apex of the bowed part * |( * (cute illustration ), then used those thick ties to bind it to the stake above and below the bowed part moving the top tie up gradually as it grew, straightened out nicely, all i had to do was trim off the side branches each autumn until i had the tree/bush i wanted, and I removed the top part of the stake, but you could leave it in to ensure it stays straight.

another thing you could try is the tubes like the council use on newly planted tree to protect them, maybe plastic drainpipe, hacksaw through it so you can open it, then put it round the trunk, like we plant carrots in tubes to make them grow down straight? after all , if you do that and use a support stake, the only way is up!

[FB.]

Most young trees can be persuaded to grow however you want them to.

I have a few young-ish apples that are still in their "training" phase.

I have done all sorts of things to encourage the shape I want. Things include:

Pruning out of unwanted branches.
Removal of undesirable shoots as they form ("nipping in the bud") or turning them into fruiting spurs.
Adding weights to branches, to make them hang lower.
Using ties, to pull branches in my chosen direction.
Using frames and tying branches to the frame.

While branches and stems are less than a couple of years old, they can be persuaded to bend however you want.
Sometimes, it has to be done gradually, to prevent snapping. I have a Worcester Pearmain apple fan still in it's early years and I changed the angle of one of it's branches this year - from almost 45' to rougly horizontal. It required two stages, so as not to break the branch.

I suggest that you tie your quince to a stake. Given that it has grown curvy, Id be tempted to slightly bend it in the opposite direction because it will probably spring back to some extent, once you untie it.

If it still won't respond by the end of next season, you could cut it down to just a few inches above ground and re-grow the whole thing almost from the roots - but if it's grafted, make sure you don't cut it off below the graft!

[swampie sue]

Hi,

Thanks, I will give that a try. As it is growing as one stem, do I need to do anything to encourage branches to grow from it. I know nothing about training fruit trees. I have several books that explain but still can't get the gist of what they mean.

I suppose I hoped I could just stick it in the ground and it would grow into the perfect tree It is a grafted tree.