magnolia stellata help needed

Hi there

I have a beautiful magnolia stellata tree in my front garden which I had to get trimmed recently as it had reached an enormous height, engulfing an overhead telephone cable. It was also blocking light from our upstairs windows. Anyway I asked a local tree care company to do the trimming and am rather upset by the result as it looks so bedraggled and sad now. The overall size is probably what I wanted but there are very few leaves left as they must have all been on the outer branches which have gone.

After some googling I've realised that magnolias do not tolerate pruning very well (I realise I should have done this beforehand but assumed the tree company knew what they were doing with regard to different tree species). Now I am concerned that the magnolia may never retain its former glory. I would hate to think we have ruined or worse such a magnificent tree.

Can anyone advise me on how the tree might recover and what, if anything, I can do to help it.

Thanks for your advice.

 

Is this the right period to prune a plant? I thought it is always best to wait until autumn or winter because when the plant is in activity you cut down its nutrients and whatever recovery there will be eventually, it will be very slow...

 

thanks for your reply. Well I believe in the case of magnolia, it is best to prune them in this period, after flowering, which is what we did (probably the only thing that we did right though!). I may be wrong as I am a complete novice but this is what I have gleaned so far. Thanks.

 

Hello Meadow

Unfortunately I have no experience of growing or pruning Magnolia stellata. However, I do have the evergreen Magnolia grandiflora growing in my tiny back garden. It's a ridiculous choice for such a small space - you see huge, venerable specimens covering the sides of stately homes - but it was a present from my Mum, so what could I do but plant it? Anyway, it got to the stage where we had no choice but to chop it right back and it not only survived but regenerated itself so quickly that we're now pondering Hatchet Job Number 2.

Obviously, they're rather different plants ... but hopefully you'll be just as lucky.

 

Hi I thought the "star magnolia" Stelata only grew quite small any way put that to one side how old is the magnolia ? as I pass a house practicaly everyday and like you it was huge and they had that cut back so harsh one summer , number one it looked awful and I didnt think it would grow back within weeks it produced lots of shotts this was done about 3 years ago it looks odd in the winter with no leaves with the stumps , but in the summer you woudnt have a clue so dont lose heart , but vthat one was at least 30 years old

Spruce

 

Hi Spruce and Claralou, thank you so much for you replies. They have made me feel much better about the situation. I am 99% confident it's a stellata but it is a very mature one. We moved into this property 18 months ago so we inherited it but I would imagine it's at least 20 years old. I am hoping therefore that it goes the same way as both of the trees you mention, and produces lots of new shoots. Thank you again.