From my experience, magnolias resist wiring in every way: they snap easily after lignification, but show scars (obviously) if wired prior. After a while I took to weighing down the tips I would prune off later, which gave it a nice up-out-and-down structure magnolias are (luckily) known for. It also took a long time for leaf size to naturally shrink, but stick with it (I could have been doing something wrong, but after 4 years of the usual partial defoliation, etc. and in the same pot, they finally shrunk down to a proportionate size). It was also one of my first trees (and unfortunately died last summer after 8 years of hard work, due to summer vacation and less than enthusiastic caretaker…best of luck! They are great trees!
1 Like
So sorry to hear about your Magnolia :’(
This is so helpful thank you! This will get me thinking about alternatives to wiring now. I’m thinking some rubber-protected tie-downs and clip-n-grow to create that movement.
Magnolias generally grow with that clump / multitrunk style and I want to represent that growth habit.
I haven’t explored very deep in the root system to find what I hope will be some nice flare a few inches down. I’m banking on these roots propelling it through the rest of the season to set it up for an early spring repot
Thanks. It happens (as I am sure you know).
Yes, I didn’t think about/know about these issues initially, so it set my design back in the beginning. Those are both good alternatives. Keep us updated!
