Magnolia Trimming Time ?

I have a 5 year old Magnolia Susan , which is now just over 7 feet tall . I would like to trim it back to keep it at 6 to 7 feet . I understand that Magnolias should only be trimmed when necessary , but the timing advice I have read for this is confusing Should I trim it back in mid winter or late summer , or indeed some other time ?

TIA

 

Hi Harry, to me logically I would do it straight after flowering has finished, otherwise you may loose flowers for a year or two but then there could be problems with excessive 'bleeding'??, have a look at this detailed link; especially the 'pruning paragraph' :thumb:;

Garden feature articles - lavenders, hostas, pruning, hydroponics and more

 

Cheers Bilbo , looks like straight after flowering is the best time to trim it to size

 

Hi Harry.
I bought a magnolia Susan from morrisons for a fiva back in April. It's about two maybe three foot tall now and has lost all of It's leaves. Do I need to cut it back with it being so small? Also I just wanted to check with you they do loose there leaves in winter?....never had one before

 

Hi, almost all Magnolias prefer not ot be pruned, other than removal of crossing branches, and dead/weak growth, obviously after a few years pruning may be required and the link above offers help on that, for a young one like you describe it shouldn't be necessary.

Most Magnolias are deciduous but there are evergreen species that are normally grown as wall shrubs and pruned and trained up a wall; M.grandiflora being the usual one.

Hope this helps :thumb:

 

Thanks pal been meaning to ask that for ages I just forgot about it once it lost It's leaves. Should i expect mine to flower or not next year? It is in a pot atm
Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread Harry :yess:

 

Hard to say if it will flower next year?, I planted one in my sisters garden that was about 2ft tall and it flowered the next year, only 3 flowers but flowers none the less.

As the winter progresses keep an eye on it for any buds that look larger than the others, these will probably be young flower buds.

Also, if you're going to plant in to the ground, try and get it right first time because Magnolias dislike being moved.

 

It's no problem joining the Magnolia thread Hydro' ! As Bilbo summed up your M. Susan should be losing or lost its leaves around now and should flower early next year before the leaves form . Mine has taken the form of a small tree with just removing a couple of lower branches. I have never trimmed it - as they do not like being pruned , that's why I was asking advice on it. I really do like it when it is in leaf , it's a cracking choice