How to Landscape With Quinces

Flowering Quince

• 1

  Discourage would-be intruders by planting a deceptively pretty hedge of flowering quince along the alleyway or other boundaries where passers-by may be tempted to cross into your property. The shrub's small, sharp spines and densely tangled branches form a year-round natural barrier. Plant flowering quince at least six feet inside your property line to accommodate the fast-growing plant's spread as it matures.

• 2

  Stabilize a slope and reduce the need for clambering up the incline to mow and water by planting several flowering quince shrubs across the hillside. Requiring little maintenance beyond an autumn clean-up of dropped leaves to reduce the possibility of fungus growth, flowering quince tolerate the dry soil conditions often present on banks and rising ground. Plant several flowering quince in an extended, curved line to provide a swath of breathtaking color across the slope during the early-spring blooming period.

• 3

  Set a single flowering quince shrub at the back of flower bed or wide border to provide early-season color and a backdrop of green foliage through summer and autumn. Pair the flowering quince with early-blooming yellow forsythia and crocus to create a focal point of bright, contrasting colors in a garden that's just beginning to emerge from winter grays. Prune flowering quince annually to maintain the shrub's shape and size when it is situated in a mixed planting or formal layout.

Fruiting Quince

• 4

  Include a fruit-bearing quince tree in a backyard orchard alongside similar-sized apple and pear trees. Because quince is self-pollinating, a single tree is sufficient to produce the fruit, which ripens in late fall. Remove suckers that grow up around a young tree's base and prune it once a year to maintain a healthy system of branching and to stimulate flowering.

• 5

  Plant an individual quince tree in an open area of the yard as an ornamental specimen tree. Place it in a location where the twisted, gnarly branches that develop as the tree matures stand out against softer, smooth textures in the surrounding landscape. Leave ample clearance around the tree to rake up dropped fruit and fallen leaves in the autumn.

• 6

  Incorporate quince into a long hedgerow of mixed trees and shrubs to create a natural privacy screen along property lines. Tall-growing evergreens provide a lush backdrop for the visually interesting, crooked, bare branches of randomly spaced quince trees in the winter. Blossoming in late spring, quince's pink and white flowers accent the mixed hedgerow's various shades of green foliage.