What species of quince - there are several?

Since you say "bush" I am going to assume you mean flowering quince, Chaenomeles. Yes, I am sure you could select one vigorous stalk and train it into a low standard -- you can do this with most shrubs.

The only downside I see to that is you will be fighting a LOT of suckers from the roots all of the time, since nature wanted it to be a multi-stemmed shrub. One way I have dealt with that situation in the past is to put some VERY heavy, dense material on the ground around the trunk of the selected stem, kept an inch or two back from the trunk, and then thick organic mulch over the top -- this seems to stop the majority of the suckers from growing, and you can hand-trim the few that come up around the trunk. A couple of layers of old carpet (that is what I have used), some black rubber/vinyl pond liner with small holes punched in it for drainage, a couple of thicknesses of 6 mil black poly, or possibly one of those recycled-tire "tree rings" should work.

Good luck, sounds do-able to me.

The flowering quince you have is intended to be used as a flowering shrub. Training it to a standard would be a novelty but would greatly reduce the bloom. It might make a fruit now and then. If fruit is you goal, better to get a semi-dwarf fruiting quince tree. The trees do not have red blooms, though.

For you current plant, you could prune it now just to keep it in check but it might be better to wait until fall to move it and then hard prune it. You will lose quite a few roots in the process, that is why it should not be moved during the active growing season.

Dennin and Larry, thanks for your thoughtful replies. I realize now that I have a flowering quince, which is considered a different species altogether (according to Wikipedia). Mine flowers white. I do get some fragrant fruit, but they are on the smaller side and hard to process. I will consider getting a fruit since tree.

Dennin and Larry, thanks for your thoughtful replies. I realize now that I have a flowering quince, which is considered a different species altogether (according to Wikipedia). Mine flowers white. I do get some fragrant fruit, but they are on the smaller side and hard to process. I will consider getting a fruit since tree.

if you going to get a quince tree, don't buy from that Ty Ty Nursery. I think its probably the worst reviewed nursery in the US lol. Just google them and you'll see the negative reviews (or members can let you know here). I got a few of mine this year from One Green World and RainTree they mentioned. Good bareroot trees.

PS I saw the korean market had some quince fruit for sale in my area this week. Seems like everything like pomegranates etc that come out at weird times of the season are grown in Chili. I'll have to check the label where they from this week.

Stay away from TyTy for anything, other than bemusement at their bizarre photoshopped photos.

Three main genera of plants fall into the 'quince' moniker.
Cydonia oblonga - the small tree species commonly accepted in Europe as the true quince - a number of different selections, made for fruit size/quality - Smyrna, Pineapple, Orange, Aromatnaya, etc.
Chaenomeles spp. - the 'flowering quince' - some of which may fruit heavily. I grew up eating those hard green/yellow incredibly sour things from a particularly productive strain my grandmother grew. Flower color can vary from white to red to orange/peach.
Pseudocydonia chinensis - the 'Chinese quince' - produces a large firm sour fruit - and is a nice ornamental as well, with spring bloom, great fall color display, and interesting exfoliating bark, resembling some of the crape myrtles.
Chaenomeles and Pseudocydonia fruits can be substituted for the fruits of Cydonia in recipes for quince marmalade, etc.

Fruiting quince trees have mostly white flowers with a hint of pink, not much different from your present shrub.