If not protected by fencing vandalism will probably continue to occur. If not damaged by kids or other careless people maybe backed into by a car. When these kinds of adversities are not planned for when planting public spaces the landscaping is likely to lose.

You wouldn't have deer would you? During the rutting season (late Fall), the males get particularly amorous and are drawn to the smooth bark of Magnolias. I've had damage done to both northern deciduous and southern evergreen species. As long as the tree has not been girdled (bark damaged completely around the circumference of the tree), it should eventually recuperate over the years. DO NOT APPLY ANY SEALANTS TO THE WOUNDS! Let the wound seal itself naturally. The specific size of your tree makes it attractive to attacks from animals.

my star mag.. in z5 is 10 years old.. and only 4 feet high.. are you sure on the ID???

as for the damage .. any chance at a pic????

trees heal themselves.... if re-injury can be avoided ... as previously noted ...

if multi-stemmed.. you might consider removing the injured part in the future ... this is why i would like to see a pic ...

good luck

ken

Ken, you must have a little runt there :-) My star magnolia is a few years older than yours (maybe 15?) and is easily 12' tall. 15-20' is not uncommon for a mature specimen, although multi-stemmed forms tend to be shorter and a lot more shrubby in appearance.

As the tree is located in a public parking lot, it's very likely the damage was caused by a car. A deep gash is generally not going to be fatal, if the tree was healthy previously and the wound already beginning to scar over. Don't expect bark to grow back to cover it completely - there will always be exposed wood in that area but the tree will seal it off naturally to prevent further damage from insects or disease.

There would be a lot more concern if the wound encircled the entire trunk.

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your responses. Because of the angle of the tree and the fact that it is in a corner, I am fairly sure it was not hit by a car. However, that is how bad the wound is. I will try to get a picture today if can. We have ice coming!

I am glad to hear I should not spray a sealant on it. I wondered about that. It does appear to be trying to heal itself. The wound does not go all the way around.

We don't have deer or other animals of that sort. We do have drunken college students so....:-)
I just hope if that is what happened it is too cold for them to linger at that tree again. I don't get people. I saw where one took a dive into a nice large shrub and broke the middle out. We have been lucky in my front yard. An iron fence is going up soon I hope.

To clarify, we live in a downtown area. The tree is not in a park but a parking lot located next door. The tree is on the property line next to my very large 10-15 foot tall privet hedge.

I wish we could ask them to fence it but luckily it is surrounded by a hedge of short evergreens. They are fine and that is what makes this so strange.

I will see if I can get a picture real quick. More later.

Thanks to all!

You didn't mention any loose bark, but if there is any loose bark left on the gash, removal would be wise. As long as you don't cut into living tissue (usually not a good idea, but it depends on the situation), cleaning up messy wounds can often speed up recovery and lessen the chance of more problems. I would expect the tree to eventually completely cover the area with bark, but it will take a while. The area will be vulnerable to rot development until it is completely covered. This might be another case where Spruceman's liquid copper fungicide could possibly help.

If you think the wound was possibly caused by a vehicle, you might consider adding a stake or pole to lessen the chance of further damage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Preventing Wood Rot in Trees--Liquid Copper Fungicide

Brandon:

Thanks for referencing the link to my explanation about Liquid copper fungicide.

Jane:

The wound to your tree is large enough for it to become infected by wood rotting fungi before it heals over. Normally small scrapes that remove some bark don't need to be treated, but this one is large enough, and the tree is probably not fast growing enough to close the wound before there is a good possibility that some bad fungus could enter. If you have any further questions after reading the posts under the link that Brandon gave you, please feel free to ask me.

And those who warn against the use of any kind of sealant or coating to try to keep wood rotting fungi out are correct. These things generally don't work, and by sealing moisture in, they do more to promote fungal growth than to prevent it.

--Spruce

Spruce,

I feel like you should be paying me for PR work or promotional effort. ROFL

No, really, we owe you for taking the time to develop your idea and put it in writing here for us to use. Thanks!

Hi Everyone. I have spent an hour trying to send the picture. I give up for now. If possible, I may try tomorrow if I am stuck at home.
As I took the picture I noticed the damaged area is longer than I thought but no deeper.
It does have a bit of loose bark around the edge so I will removed by trimming after it warms up a bit. Freezing ice tonight.
Thanks for the advice!

Jane, you indicated on another thread that you had successfully posted the picture in some other forum, but I looked and couldn't find it. Can you post a link to it here?

Hi,

Yes. I opened a second forum. I guess I am not as good at this as others. LOL
Here is the link, I think. I had to open a second forum last night because it would not accept a second message from me for some reason.

Here is a link that might be useful: Magnolia Tree Damage

I don't know what caused the damage, but the good news is that it does look like the tree is covering it over. Also, the damage doesn't look as bad as I had pictured. Hopefully, conditions will be really good for it next year and it will make good progress towards completely covering the area.

The most likely reason that you couldn't post again to this thread is that you were the last poster and the title was the same. Next time, just change the title (even something as small as changing RE: to Re: will work), and your post should go through.

I've seen the area where you posted your photo before, but I don't remember how I got there. Your link worked fine, but I don't see a link to that area in Gardenweb's listing of forums. They have "The Garden Photo Gallary", but it's a different area. Seems like they need to streamline their system, but I won't hold my breath until they do.

looks like sun scald in winter ....

but you also mention a parking lot ... please define exactly where the wounds point ... e.g. sunrise??? .. sunset??? ...high noon while the sun is basting the parking lot???? [reflective sun damage, plus intense heat generation by blacktop]

that type of damage occurs in my yard in z5 .. when winter sun causes the side facing the sun.. to repeatedly freeze and thaw .. while the rest of the plant remains frozen solid... i see no problem.. until the next spring ...

i doubt that you are dealing with the exact same thing ... based on your zone .... but it could be similar ...

this VERY OFTEN happens on a stressed plant.. and the biggest stressor is transplant and improper aftercare ... once a plant is fully ESTABLISHED .... it occurs less often.. if ever ..

in other words.. it went into winter in drought ... and suffered from winter sun damage ...

all a guess.. unless you can add some facts to narrow it all down ...

ken

PS: trees and shrubs heal themselves... nothing for you to do .. unless you see further damage or improper healing ... i MIGHT take a new very sharp razor.. and trim the bark back just to the scab .. but do NOT interfere with the healing scab .. we want to avoid a pocket underneath .. where bad bugs might hide out .... or where anything might accumulate.. that could start to rot ..

As has been said, looks like the tree is doing a fine job of dealing with an old wound. Leave it be.

Here's a link that goes directly to your image
http://photos.gardenweb.com/garden/galleries/2009/01/magnolia_tree_damage.html?cat=great_gardens

Here is a link that might be useful: direct link to the image

Hi All,

Jean, thank you for the link help!

Brandon, the Garden Photo Gallery is the right place. However, I had to click on Great Gardens in the box on the right to post my picture. I picked "Great Gardens" because there wasn't an "Ugly Damage" category. The categories were all pretty names. LOL

The damage on the tree is pointed toward the southwest so sun damage in freezing temperatures could be a possibility. We did have a week this Winter where it warmed up to the 60's for a couple/three days then immediately dropped back down to freezing again. I always worry about my crape myrtles when that happens but I guess I should worry more about the magnolia.
The parking lot was landscaped a few years ago to reflect our new ordinance requiring all new parking lots to have landscaping instead of being barren black top. The guys who work at planning and zoning next door were nice enough to line the lot with many different shrubs and ornamental grasses. They did great work. The lot is long and skinny and one-way. At the entrance to the left is a triangular heavily mulched shrub bed with evergreen short shrubs across the front and the magnolia sitting behind them. Our golden vickory privet hedge lines it on the property line. So, the magnolia has a nice corner to set in. I must confess I always wanted a magnolia and don't have the room in my yard now. So, when the city representatives (this was very kind of them by the way) asked what I'd like to have there (since it was so close to our yard), you all can guess what I wanted. LOL That is why I treat this magnolia as my own even though it actually belongs to the city. They are pretty good about mulching and weeding. I am the one who sneaks over there at 5:00, feeds,weeds, and waters it during droughts. :-) That is why it is quite healthy other than the damage.

It has the most wonderful smell when it blooms and it is just now big enough to really take off.

Thanks everyone!
J

you said: We did have a week this Winter where it warmed up to the 60's for a couple/three days then immediately dropped back down to freezing again.

-------------

based on the amount of healing.. i would estimate that this happened LAST winter.. or 2 or 3 years prior ....

i NEVER fertilize flowering shrubs .... i hope you are very careful with such .... a soil test would indicate anything that is missing in the soil ... otherwise i would not ... excessive growth due to overfertilization could be a complicating factor in this injury .. or not.. who knows ... and that might answer why yours is twice as large as mine in half as many years ....

shrubs should be properly mulched.. and watered in drought.. and otherwise left to fend for themselves .. IMHO ....

whatever.. your plant is healing itself.. you should be all set ... good luck

ken