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Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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Posted by
greenthumbzdude 6 PA (
My Page) on
Wed, Feb 8, 12 at 16:00
| I bought a magnolia "Jane" about 3 years ago. It has grow very little since that time maybe a foot. What can I do to improve growth? Its currently in a sunny spot in the middle of my yard. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by j0nd03 7 west/central AR (My Page) on
Wed, Feb 8, 12 at 16:07
| Things like water availability especially during summer would be good to know. Also, a soil test might provide additional helpful information. Was it planted at the correct level and how did the roots look when you planted it? I will say I have a neighbor across the street who also has this plant. It (around 3.5-4' tall and wide at the time) came up in a convo we had this past spring. She stated she had planted it about 4-5 years ago and it hadn't grown but a few inches each season. She did enjoy it for the blooms in the spring and was going to keep it anyways. This year, with no fertilizer or anything, it nearly doubled in size. It was pretty cool to watch. Another neighbor down the road also has a Jane that went gangbusters this year and even had a 4' sucker shoot straight up from the base along with a great amount of top growth on the shrubby limbs above. Perhaps this cultivar just takes a while to "settle" in. John |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Wed, Feb 8, 12 at 17:46
| Is it mulched? Often mulching improves growth from trees and shrubs that were dawdling before then. |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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| Do magnolias usually suffer transplant shock? Somewhere I remember reading they have a primitive root system that doesn't transplant well..... Mine do seem more rope like and less branched. Right now I have a container grown Lenard Messel (sp?) that's been in the ground two years and has barely grown... I'm hoping it gets over whatever it's going through this year. |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by whaas 5a SE WI (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 9, 12 at 13:09
| If planted properly (planted at grade, outter roots flared out, no encircling roots) it will be fine. Although they say its a vigorous grower its a slower growing cultivar. I can't say the one I planted from container grew more than a couple inches last year. I alos can't say that any cultivar I've planted in the last 4 years has grown more than 4" per year...maybe Magnolia x loebneri 'Merrill'. Jane was planted in a sandy loam, the rest where in well drain clay loam. |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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| my first though was planted too deep .. and if it was potted.. and you relied on the soil level in the pot.. it might be a problem ... except in the most severe situation.. things should be pretty fully established after one year ... there is no good reason to be wondering about that after 3 years ... so i start think.. what the heck is going on underground ... with such slight growth .. it might be to your advantage to dig it up.. bare root it.. see whats wrong with the roots.. and replant it PROPERLY ,... and proper timing for that in my z5 is the first few weeks of april while it is totally DORMANT .... so for your z6 .. a week earlier???? just insure it is totally dormant.. and do it as early as possible.. at the point when the soil temps are starting to rise for spring ... my WAG.. it was severely rootbound at some potting up stage.. and the root system has big problems .... ken |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by whaas 5a SE WI (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 9, 12 at 15:09
| You should check the plant eitheway since you are posting this question but keep in mind this plant matures between 10-20' tall. It might only grow 4-6" a year. If you want it to grow faster you'll have to a buy a larger faster growing cultivar. There is no reason to assume there are root issues with the given growth rate of this cultivar in the first three years. |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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| I don't know specifically about Magnolia's. But some plants are just SSLLLLOOOOOWWWWW to establish. We have a Milky Way Kousa Dogwood that has been in the ground for 4 years, and has not grown 6 inches. Planted as 2" caliper, that I KNOW was planted correctly. It was 3 years before I could cut back to normal watering. I have had other dogwoods that did not make it for various reasons. All of those I examined the roots on, and non of them had grown nearly as much as would be expected. Point being, some groups just take longer to generate a normal root system. Arktrees |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by whaas 5a SE WI (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 9, 12 at 17:15
| I hear ya on the Milky Way dogwood, mine just put out leaves this year. |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 9, 12 at 17:28
| Specimens in good condition make normal top growth the second summer after planting. The condition of a specimen at planting has a critical effect on results obtained after planting. Much stock seen at outlets in my areas is sub-par and might not be expected to perform well after purchase. Common pitfalls encountered by nursery stock at retail outlets include lack of adequate (if any) fertilization and exposure to standing water. Plants brought home in starved condition or infested with water molds are quite likely to not bounce back. I have discarded multiple specimens myself that failed to improve, even dwindled away after planting out. Another source of difficulty is intact field soil balls being retained at planting. More than one tree failure I have had in recent years has been clearly due to making this mistake. In particular a Kousa dogwood that could not be gotten to stop rolling up in summer, make normal top growth was found at eventual exhumation to be sitting in a clod of dust, despite repeated watering and some years in place. Once a typically fine-textured field soil root ball dries out, it often cannot be re-wetted without being immersed in water. |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by whaas 5a SE WI (My Page) on
Fri, Feb 10, 12 at 14:10
| Greenthumbz, did you ever end up killing that Pear tree at your parents house? |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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| I have the 'Jane' and the 'Susan' varieties of the 'little sisters'. I particularly love the Susan as the petals are slightly twisted. In fact both are in bloom right now. Lovely dark solid color. Both are many years old (guess 10 or so ... don't recall exactly when I planted them) and have always been slow growers for me. I'm Z8 in s/e Ms. Mike |
RE: Magnolia 'Jane' Help
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 16, 12 at 12:17
| Possibly these habit shots show original seedlings. Plants at the OSU experiment station near Aurora, OR are small bushy trees that can be stood beneath. |
Here is a link that might be useful: The U.S. National Arboretum presents eight hybrid magnolia cultivars affectionately known as ''The Girls.''
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