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Moving a magnolia

mort

mort

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15 Nov 2015
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Was after some advice. My nan had a lovely magnolia tree (5x5ft or so) in her back garden but she passed in November and the people who are buying the house are going to bulldoze the garden (they were planning on keeping it otherwise we would have tried moving the tree when it was dormant). I know they are famously poor for transplanting even when dormant but as this tree has sentimental value to my mum, she'd like to try (as it's dead if it stays anyway).
So is it even worth it? I understand they have very wide root structures and you'd need as large a root ball as possible but can some good moisture retention compost, regular deep water (ie down a pipe to the root all so you don't just get surface roots), mycorrhizal bacteria etc give it a chance?

Any advice gratefully received.
 
Since the tree is obviously "doomed" anyway - I'd defenitely give it a try. You are right, though, this is possibly the worst time at all for moving Magnolia.
Magnolia are known, too, for not really liking to be pruned. Nevertheless I would really try to cut it back, before/when moving it and I would absolutely discharge ALL flowers - this would reduce the amount of plant, that the reduced root-system would have to support right after moved. Do not by any means cut to "bare wood", but spare plenty of the smaller, possibly lower situated, branches. Be sure these are bearing/will bear leaves. This exercise will then support the plant at lower "evaporation-cost".
Since Magnolia are generally considered bad "competitors" regarding other trees, do not re-plant very close to established trees.
Also be aware, that Magnolia are generally considered to prefere soil on the mildly acidic side - blending some Rhododendron-sphagnum in the (big) plant-hole will be benefitial as will ofcourse generous watering in the first year or two, when needed.
I have moved Magnolia successfull this way - but plant will ofcourse be damaged, needing several years to fully recover.
- All the best of luck with it........
 
Hi all,
mort said:
So is it even worth it? I understand they have very wide root structures and you'd need as large a root ball as possible but can some good moisture retention compost, regular deep water (ie down a pipe to the root all so you don't just get surface roots), mycorrhizal bacteria etc give it a chance?
Click to expand...
It is basically down to a large root ball and then as much water as possible.

Even though Magnolias don't prune very well, I'd still prune it, reduction by at least 1/3.

Is it <"Magnolia stellata">?

cheers Darrel
 
Thank you guys thats really helpful. Darrel I'm unsure if it's stellata, it probably is but is a purple/pink colour.

The one thing maybe going for it is from memory it's planted near the edge of a raised wall sectioned area, so in at least one direction the roots would have been confined and will hopefully have gone down making an easier to remove structure.
 
Good advice
I'd also suggest examining the root ball & clean snipping any crushed or obviously damaged (stripped) roots

Not sure about magnolia not pruning well - perhaps this is species dependent - my dad was an orchardist & first year with the magnolia (mature tree on property they bought) he trimmed it just like a fruit tree :lol:
It only had a few blooms that year but did tremendously the next year, thereafter he just trimmed to shape leaving enough older wood for bloom production.
Tree was in a dry sunny climate (frost & snow from late September through April) & bloomed heavily early spring, with a good second bloom mid summer & minor 3rd bloom in early spring years - it also carried a scattering of blooms through from spring through the late frost 🙂
 
Well like a scorpionfsh that chokes on the prey it thought would fit, it seems my memory and reality are a little out. I remember it being about 5x5 but at over 6ft myself it still towered over my head by a couple of feet and was a similar size in all directions. I can only put this down to being on a ladder last time I was there pruning a cherry tree during the winter, or at least i'm blaming the perspective of looking down on a dormant tree for my bad memory. So basically it was a no go from the start as I would, one never have been able to lift it with a suitable root ball, two not got it through the house or garage and three I've no idea how it would fit in a car.
That meant I had to convince my mum that buying a new memorial tree was a much better option. So since nans birthday was the end of august, can anyone recommend a tree that looks great around then (there is already a sister magnolia in mums garden, funnily enough bought at the exact same time as nan's was and around 5x5).
 
Thanks Darrel, I live in Norwich which is built on a massive chunk of chalk so our soil is quite alkaline. I do like the look of that species so I'll look into it further. I also made a couple of large raised beds before for mums hydrangeas which turn pink but she always admired the blues so needed a acidic soil bed.
 
Hi all,
mort said:
I live in Norwich which is built on a massive chunk of chalk so our soil is quite alkaline.
Click to expand...
Probably not then.

It is a bit different, but <"Ligustrum lucidum"> might be a possibility? I prefer the green (it has a really glossy leaf) to the variegated. I've seen it in N. London as a small street tree and it was very effective.

At the university we used to have a single tree of <"Tetradium (Evodia) daniellii">, and the bees loved it. It was a bit of a scruffy tree, but I've never seen another one, so I don't know if it is an untidy grower, or if it was just that tree.

Last one I can think of at the moment, if it is a warm garden in the summer <"Koelreuteria paniculata">.

cheers Darrel
 
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Thanks for the suggestion. After a quick look I think the tetradium looks like a front runner as I love bees and don't mind things a bit scruffy. I look at them all in more detail later.
 
Was out looking for something else and stumbled upon a 4ft magnolia grandiflora for a fiver and thought it would be rude not to buy it. So hopefully it will be looking its best around the right time of year (in a year or so's time) and its still a magnolia. Still going to try and find the Tetradium as well as I think it would make a nice addition.
 
I love magnolia trees, and the idea of using trees to memorialize occasions. We bought a magnolia grandiflora when my daughter was born, it's been in a pot since, waiting to plant outside our forever home
 
They are lovely plants.
A property I bought had a very mature M. campbellii in the garden. The house and garden were derelict and I set about renovating both.
I had to fell a tree next to the Magnolia to give it a better chance. Unfortunately it didn't fall as anticipated and took out a couple of the Magnolia's bigger branches.
To say I was gutted is an understatement, especially as I was left with no other choice but cut off several more branches to balance it out:arghh:
I was still left with a decent sized tree, but nothing like as big it should have been.
Come the onset of spring it was always the first thing to flower and despite it being somewhat smaller it was still spectacular.
However, the flowers never really seemed to last very long; 9 times out of 10 they were pummelled by hail, heavy rain, and strong wind:meh:
Anyway, random waffle over...good luck with your search😉
 
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