Courtyard Garden : Quince-essential

A few weeks ago we called in a professional to prune the vastly overgrown holly and prunus that were running amok at the front of the house. (Picture taken early this year – the lawn beneath the tree died in the summer heat and has not yet recovered)

 

The corner was an impenetrable thicket that was also home to a vast variegated ivy and though good cover for birds was causing damage. (It had already pulled down a brick pillar! illo)

There is also a wasp nest at the base of the prunus  which is why I am holding back from full scale works. Waiting for those Jaspers to vanish for the winter!

 

This week I cleared away some more ivy to reveal the source of the rather pretty deep salmon coloured Japanese Quince –Chaenomeles speciosa.   Not sure what the variety is but from the size of the stems I would guess it has been there for a good many years.

Now I want to keep the quince but at it is growing diagonally across the corner in a vast tangle of bare branches.

Forget the pruning advised in the books. the only answer here is going to be a drastic hair cut back to half a metre or so.  Yes it will mean that there will be no flowers next year – but right now its taking up the space that could house a white rose and a hydrangea that are seeking homes from elsewhere in the garden.

Not yet summoned the energy for that – so more to follow!