In order to get information about pruning or caring for my Magnolia tree, I need some information on how to identify it so that I get correct information. My tree flowers in early spring with large beautiful blossoms and when they die and fall off, leaves appear and they fall off in the fall/winter. It stays leafy and beautiful all summer. It is about 6 years old and about 14 feet tall and it looks strong and healthy. My problem is that the lower branches are 4 inches off the ground and they extend about 4 feet out from center all around. I must crawl under there to trim the grass and would like to know if I can cut some of the lower branches off so that I can put a push mower under to cut the grass. Will it grow into a tree or always remain like a big bush?
Your best bet would be to pull the grass back away from the magnolia and give it a mulched, grass-free area that extends outside the reach of the branches - something it would like to have anyway.
I am so happy to hear that..Just this afternoon I cleared all the grass away with a weed trimmer. the tree now stands in the center of 8 x 8 patch of dirt. Mulch may be a problem. I live in Delaware, and the winds are pretty fierce, and the ground tends to be sandy. Any suggestions ? How about suggestions for making it look more like a tree than a big bush. and how about the Name of this tree? Anyone chime in. I am on limited time. I will be leaving the country for a month and would like to take care of it before I leave.
A close-up photo of your Magnolia in flower will aid immensely in identification as there are 'hundreds' of varieties. You will still have to mulch it...2 or 3 bags of shredded bark mulch will do as Magnolia's don't like hot, exposed soils. Don't worry about the 'harsh' climate, their are Magnolia's growing in regions that make Delaware look like the Garden State (yes I know that's the NJ motto). As for pruning, a photo of the bush would help us in recommeding a path forward.
At 14 feet tall it is too late to try and make a multistem one into a tree with one or a few stems. Do not head back or saw off major limbs.
Sorry, A close-up picture of the tree flowering will have to wait till next spring, it is done for this year. I am attaching pictures that I took this afternoon. One of the bird feeders in front of the tree is 6 ft tall. The last pictures were taken from a lying down position and were shot with a close up mode. The are really not at big as they seem to be. The trunk is only about 12 inches from the ground to the first branch. I never noticed the configurations of the trunk till now. Let me see if I can attach these pictures. Well they seem to have transfered to the box under this one..Hope it gets to you all. Thanks
Whatever is being used to eat the bark off the bases of the stems - be it weedeater or lawn mower - you will want to stop that from being continued if you want your specimen to do well.
I will try not to get too close to it. I cannot get close to the trunk unless I crawl under there. Are those gnarled trunks supposed to look like that? and will it ever get to look like a "tree" I have some Crepe Myrtles in my yard and they are growing the same way as the Magnolia. Short trunks with wide low foliage. All in good shape, but with the same twisted trunks. Is that normal ? Thanks for your help.
You can top this tree but only pinch it back to better shape it but do it sparingly, about every second or third year is what would be recommended and would work here but perhaps not where you are. Do not cut the top back to older wood if you can help it. The lower limbs can come off anytime now, cut back flush to the base of one of the trunks for this Magnolia if that helps to achieve more clearance for the lawnmower. If you cut off the lower limbs, leave the top of this tree alone, do not pinch it back just yet. Around here, we can give this series of Magnolia an allover overhaul, pinching back the top growth while pruning the tree to shape it, even raising the tree by exposing more of the trunk, once they get to this size and shape. About three years later they will have either started to fill in or they have filled in again. You will lose some blooming ability all the while until this tree does fill in some from new growth. Pruned to shape can yield this tree to be a compact, round headed tree in a landscape but once again trees near me react better and faster than other areas might or will in cooler or overly moist locations. Where you are I would not prune this tree allover at once in any growing season. You can "lift" up the tree by cutting off the lower branches, exposing more trunk and leave the rest of the tree alone. What color were the flowers? Jim
