Hello friends,

I was running out of time this winter to prune our quince tree, and the job needed to get done before spring came and the tree began bursting its buds. So one warm and dry winter afternoon hubby and I got out our ladder, and the numerous pruning tools necessary for the job, and got to work taming our unruly quince tree.

My first aim was to get the vertical branches under control. If they were allowed to grow much further, the quince fruit would be out of reach, even with a ladder. The tree was also beginning to cast shade over my dahlias every afternoon, which definitely wasn't an allowed option either. With the area set up for the pruning job, it was time to look at the 4 'D's of plant pruning, remove dead, damaged, diseased, and dying branches, along with branches that crossed over other branches.

It didn't take very long at all to prune our quince tree, and turning it into a much smaller and tighter shape. With that done it was time to clean up the pruned quince branches.

Not wanting to waste the quince branches, I chopped them into smaller pieces and set them aside for a natural dyeing experiment. Apple and pear branches are well known among natural dyers for producing pink and peach shades from their bark, so I was curious to see whether quince being in the same family, might produce similar results.

As yet, I haven't had a chance to try this natural dyeing experiment, but in the meantime the quince wood chips have dried nicely and are now stored away for later. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see what colours they produce before too long.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

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Tags: 2026, Garden, Gardening, Natural Dye Plants, Natural Dyeing, Pruning, Quince, Spring, Tree, Trees, Winter, Winter Gardening