Chinese Quince winter work

I’ve been working on this Chinese Quince, Pseudocydonia chinensis for 18 years now, in and out of the ground. Here is a shot of the tree in 2006, before it went in the ground. I haven’t really tried to determine what orientation the tree has now relative to the photo below, likely the roots would show.

This winter, during a cold snap, it was in the garage and I had a chance to look it over and trim the branches a little bit. Of course, this tree starts to bud out the second temperatures get over 40f in the wintertime. Fortunately the buds are pretty hardy, so when it gets cold again, the tree slows back down. A week in the garage was just enough, and you may notice some buds trying to break, this was photographed on January 21. Here is the starting point:

Branches are getting dense, and the apical dominance is becoming clear. Some careful and directional pruning will help straighten it out.

After the first round of pruning back heavy branches, long branches, and crossing branches I stopped and took this photo. It helps show what’s left to address.

And after another round:, along with a little wiring.

Here is what I see to correct next:

See that second branch up on the left? It’s probably time to address it:

The primary branch below it has a lot of age, character, and movement so it could have more space. The concern is removing the second branch will create a scar on the trunk (circled below), that would take some time to heal. It also takes some time to decide, so after a day or two, I decided it is the right move, so on we go.

Thumb-thick branch removal takes some consideration, especially when it has movement, taper and 2-3 courses of ramification!

And after some of the other adjustments are made, here is the result.

In the spring, it will be repotted, likely heavily root-pruned and placed back into this old Heian Kouso pot. it seems to appreciate the slightly deeper container.

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