Magnolia newby

Good morning!
So this Mother's Day morning I have been gifted several plants including a Magnolia Soulangeana and am super pleased!
I've never had, but always wanted a magnolia but now not quite sure how best or where to plant it.
The soil here is clay. Hard solid clay. The front of the house has the most sun and hard dry solid clay that I've admittedly given up with. It's very open to winds but gets the most light all year round.
At the back of the house Ive managed to work a bit with the clay and added compost and manure over the years in areas.
It is lovely and sunny in the spring/summer out there and where I spend most of my time.
I'm debating what to do.
The magnolia is just a couple of feet tall right now so was thinking to perhaps start it off growing in a large pot full of ericaceous soil?
Or should I commit and plant it straight into the ground?
Your thoughts and experience would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

Hi

Nice gift ..magnolias do really well in a clay soil but you have to prepare the area really well as you don’t want to create a mini pond for the water to collect in especially over winter Deep digging the area adding manure manure as you go. Personally I would dig at least a two meter area , another trick is to mound up the soil a good 12 inches and plant the magnolia in the center
Make a raised bed out of sleepers is another idea
I say go for it magnolias especially the variety you have don’t like being in a pot in the long run

hope this helps

Spruce

 

Agree with Spruce! Or.....take it as an opportunity to do something with the front garden? There are usually a couple of weeks of the year in spring and autumn when clay is workable! Magnolias look wonderful as specimen shrubs/ small trees. How about biting the bullet and excavating a sizeable hole either manually or with a mini-digger and investing in a bulk delivery of topsoil? It doesn't have to be particularly acid. Mix well with some of the excavated stuff to backfill and make sure excess water can drain away via a slit trench in the remaining, surrounding clay. Mulch bare soil if possible.

 

Thank you very much for all your very helpful advice.
I panicked at first and read that message as digging two metres deep!
I like the idea of a raised bed setup and think that would work best and also look very nice in the spot I have picked out.
I'm going to plant the magnolia in the back garden where the clay has been improved. If I put a raised bed in that area and dig the clay over a bit at the bottom, add manure and ericaceous compost, do you think that would be ok?
I do have a mini digger. He's 34 and named Conner He is happy to buy his mum plants but would rather spend his time fishing than digging
I've made a bit of a mistake with the front garden and went with a wildflower garden a few years back. I did have a lovely year where there was a beautiful mixture of foxgloves, roses, cornflowers, poppies and oxeye daisy. Now the oxeye daisy have totally taken over! They do help to keep down all the weeds but I think they would eventually take over any area I cleared for the magnolia if planted out there.
I struggle to keep them clear of the roses!

 

@Oliver Poliver needs to read this thread

 

Hi

how high are you thinking for a raised bed ?

 

As a quick option, I was looking at the raised bed from Wickes. Unfortunately I do not have the DIY skills to make my own. The Wickes raised bed measures length 120cm x 80cm width. The height is just over 19 cm. I'm fairly confident that the soil it will sit on can be turned over and I can add to it. Do you think that is sufficient or too big? In my head I imagine painting the raised bed and planting the magnolia in the middle and perhaps planting something much smaller around the inside borders of the bed leaving plenty of space for the actual magnolia, if that makes sense.

 

Sorry that’s not high enough 7.48 inches I think Wikes is taking the Mike’s calling that a raised bed

 

It would give the Magnolia a start, but the soil underneath is still going to have to be really well-prepared and dug deep. Above all, don't plant it in lovely, fluffy compost and then expect it to push it's roots into compacted clay. It won't

 

I think that as long as the soil level around the base of the stem is above the surrounding soil level it will help .

But as @noisette47 says the real rooting needs to be in the soil.
Basically it's just like planting it on a mound.

 

We have magnolias growing in heavy clay soil and they have and are doing really well. Why are you wanting to add ericaceous compost?

 

I'd agree that once a Magnolia forms strong roots, they grow well in neutral Ph , clay soil. As with most pot-grown plants, it's the transition from compost-based rootball to open soil that is the tricky part.